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Football London
Football London
Sport
Andy Ha

Arsenal's Nicolas Pepe delivers verdict on Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool and Man Utd's defenders

Nicolas Pepe has spoken about the best defensive back-lines he has faced in the Premier League.

Since joining Arsenal from Lille in the summer, Pepe has struggled to rediscover the form which saw the Gunners spend a club record £80million to sign him.

The forward was initially dropped by former head coach Unai Emery, before being restored to the starting line-up by Mikel Arteta in recent months.

Pepe has only found the net once against a top six club all season, scoring in the 2-0 home win against Manchester United.

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But the Ivory Coast international could not name one stand-out defender that he has struggled against this season.

Answering questions in a quickfire Q&A session with teammate Matteo Guendouzi for the official club YouTube channel, Pepe is asked "Who's the toughest defender you've played against?"

Pepe then replies: "Honestly, nobody."

(Arsenal Media)
(Arsenal Media)

His answer is somewhat surprising given Pepe has faced an array of excellent centre-backs and full-backs in the top flight, including Andrew Robertson, Virgil van Dijk, Toby Alderweireld, Cesar Azpilicueta and Harry Maguire.

On the pitch, Pepe could be forced to win his place back after being dropped from the starting line-up for the goalless draw against Burnley last weekend.

The 24-year-old had started every game in 2020 across all competitions, but Gunners boss Arteta named the winger on the bench to accommodate the returning Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Speaking after the game, Arteta admitted his side found it tough after they were held to a fourth consecutive draw in the top flight.

"The conditions were difficult, the grass was this long and they didn't put any water on it, and that's not a very helpful thing to play football.

"I didn't water the pitch yesterday at the training ground because I expected it, but that doesn't make it any easier to play. 

"They (Burnley) do what they do really well, and you are allowed to do it so we have to react to that.

"In some moments it wasn't the grass, it was their quality and what they do really well, and we could not do it in the right way."

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