Many Arsenal fans have begged head coach Mikel Arteta to start Nicolas Pepe more often after an interesting statistic was shared by @ltarsenal on Twitter.
Arsenal last 5 wins in all competitions:
Vitoria (H): 3-2 – Pepe brace
West Ham (A): 1-3 – Pepe goal and assist
Manchester United (H): 2-0 – Pepe goal
Leeds (H): 1-0 – Pepe beats the press to make the goal
Bournemouth (A): 2-1Pepe has started in all of them.
— Sash ~ (@ltarsenal) February 14, 2020
Not only has the Ivorian has started each of the last five victories across all competitions, he has also played a huge part in four of the wins. The first victory came in the win over Vitoria in the Europa League, where Pepe came off the bench to score two free kicks to ensure the north London outfit came from 2-1 down to win 3-2 (via BBC). He then scored and assisted goals in the 3-1 win over West Ham United as he curled in a beautiful effort.
A goal in the New Year’s Day clash against Manchester United followed before the ace produced a brilliant piece of dribbling in the build-up to the only goal against Leeds United in the FA Cup. His performances have got some supporters wanting him to start more often as they reacted to the stat. Here is a selection of tweets, with one Gunners fan calling him a ‘massive’ player for the team:
Yea, Martinelli, Auba and Pepe is our most dangerous front three.
— ArsenalStartingXI (@ArsenalStarting) February 14, 2020
Martinelli Auba Pepe, please man
— yuri (@yuri_januzzi) February 14, 2020
But somehow he doesn’t train well. He needs to start every match
— New balls please (@amyampaire) February 14, 2020
Yet people question is input so far. He hasn’t clicked yet but has been massive.
— Ayobami O’Wyse (@XperienceWYSE) February 14, 2020
He needs to start every game it’s as simple as that
— Brendon (@bmdc95) February 14, 2020
He hasn’t started four consecutive games and we’ve still drawn in games he hasn’t started. I don’t see the whole point of dropping him
— hakim zziwa (@hakimzziwa010) February 14, 2020
Arsenal fans, do you think Pepe deserves more starts for the club? Join the discussion below!
