Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane said Arsenal’s senior players must “step up” ahead of the Gunners’ titanic clash against Chelsea.
Mikel Arteta is under furious pressure, after his side’s 2-0 humbling by Premier League new boys Brentford last Friday.
The North Londoners simply had no answer to Thomas Frank’s side’s assertive and savvy style of play, and they were well deserving of their first ever victory in the Premier League.
Any similar performance against Thomas Tuchel’s flying Chelsea side, and it is guaranteed to be a long day for The Reds.
Keane said before the match Arsenal must put this match behind them, and swiftly look to move on if they are to have any chance against the Champions League holders.
"When you are at one of these big clubs everything has its extremes,” Keane said on Sky Sports.
“When you win a couple of games everyone thinks you are the greatest, and when you have a bad start to the season like Arsenal have, the critics are going to be out."
Arsenal are currently the highest spenders in the Premier League, having forked out £132million on the likes of Ben White, Martin Odegaard, Aaron Ramsdale and Albert Sambi-Lokonga.
However, Keane believes the more experienced players also must step up if they are going to recover from last week’s humiliation.
"They have invested and brought in some good young players, but that is the potential,” said Keane.
“And they need a reaction from their senior players, and that is still a question mark for me."
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"The younger players need a helping hand from these senior players, they need to stand up and be counted and prove what playing for a club like Arsenal should mean to them.”
White endured a debut to forget for his new side at the Brentford Community Stadium.
The former Brighton and Hove Albion defender was given a torrid evening by Bees’ striker Ivan Toney, who bullied the 23-year-old all game.
However, a late injury to White means he will miss the contest against the Blues, and Rob Holding has been drafted in to deal with Chelsea’s new £98million signing Romelu Lukaku.
The Belgian has been selected to make his second Blues debut against the North Londoners.
Lukaku re-signed for the West Londoners from Serie A champions Inter Milan; ten years after they first signed the striker when he was a raw prodigy at Anderlecht.
Andre Villas Boas was the Chelsea boss at the time of the youngster’s arrival, but he was stuck behind Didier Drogba, Fernando Torres, and Nicolas Anelka in the pecking order.
After outscoring all of Chelsea’s strikers while on loan at West Bromwich Albion, Lukaku returned with more hope but was instead loaned to Everton.
The Toffees then broke their transfer record to sign him permanently, before selling him to Manchester United for £76 million.
Despite 42 goals in 98 appearances for The Red Devils, Lukaku was sold to Inter Milan where he was transformed into one of the best strikers in world football under the guidance of Antonio Conte.
Now he is back at Chelsea as a more complete and well-rounded player, Arsenal will have to be on top of their game if the Belgian is to be unleashed at The Emirates.
