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Football London
Football London
Sport
Tashan Deniran-Alleyne

'Trying to be too clever!' - Arsenal fans spot what Willian has done against Manchester City

One of the major talking points coming out of Arsenal's Premier League clash against Manchester City is Willian's positioning.

Manager Mikel Arteta has opted to stick with the same attacking trio that finished the 2-1 win over Sheffield United before the international break a fortnight ago.

This means Willian has joined captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Nicolas Pepe in the front three.

For the latter, it's a reward after changing the game against the Blades.

Introduced to proceedings at the Emirates Stadium at 0-0, the club-record signing would have a hand in Bukayo Saka's opener, before netting his first goal of the season with a brilliant solo effort.

Interestingly, instead of making a like-for-like swap, Arteta brought Pepe on for Eddie Nketiah and altered his system slightly.

In taking off Eddie Nketiah it meant Aubameyang finished the game as the centre-forward after starting in what has become his usual position under Arteta; from the left of a trio.

And some fans believed the Gunners boss had stumbled across a new solution.

When the team news was announced ahead of kick-off at the Etihad Stadium, the feeling was that Aubameyang was playing through the middle with Willian and Pepe either side.

However, that's not how things panned out.

As spotted by Arsenal fans, Willian has been playing as a 'false nine'.

Take a look at what's been said on Twitter.

"[He] is scoring a lot of goals coming from that position, he's done it all his career," Arteta said recently when addressing questions about why he plays Aubameyang out wide.

"We know he can play as at nine but at the moment the balance of the team is a little bit better like this.

"He is a team player."

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