Mikel Arteta explains how he knew super-sub Mikel Merino would fire Arsenal to win against Leicester and reveals when he decided to use Spanish midfielder as a striker

The Gunners, who were missing Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus due to injuries, were struggling to break down a resilient Leicester side. In a bold tactical move, Arteta deployed Merino as a makeshift forward, and the decision paid off spectacularly. The Spaniard scored twice, first with a precise header and then with a simple tap-in, capitalising on accurate deliveries from Ethan Nwaneri and Leandro Trossard to fire the north London side to a crucial victory.

Surprisingly, Merino only learned of his new role on the morning of the game. However, the 27-year-old adapted seamlessly, demonstrating his ability to anticipate chances and position himself perfectly in the box to score two goals, which could turn out to be extremely important if the title fight goes down to the wire.

After the match, Arteta explained his thought process behind the tactical switch and told reporters: "I didn't think about him, to be fair. It was a lot of debate. I didn’t want to drive him crazy. I said to him this morning that he might play there, we believe he could sit there if the game needed the context. He won the game for us.

"But Mikel has got that. It's a good threat because he can smell danger. He can anticipate the action. He's got really good timing to arrive to certain areas. And then, obviously, he has the capacity to execute with a lot of parts of his body. And he needed the delivery. He certainly had that as well and he put it in the back of the net."

Pressed further on what was running through his mind before he made the decision, Arteta added: "The moment you start to draw options there are too many, and at the end, you have to have the picture in your head of what can work and what are the variables and the options and the synergies within the team. And then you have to feel it, and that's a feeling on the pitch and seeing what has happened actually, what is the game demanding. We believe that it was him in that moment, and then to get it right he needs to deliver, which is the hardest thing in football."

Merino’s impact was immediate and decisive, as despite having only 16 touches throughout the match, two of those, resulted in goals - a remarkable efficiency in front of goal for a natural midfielder. His double against Leicester brings his club career tally to 40 goals, with eight of those coming in his final season at Real Sociedad.

When speaking to TNT Sports, Arteta revealed that he had predicted Merino would score before the game.

"[I told him] that he was going to score," he said. "He’s a real goal threat. The moment they started moving deeper and we were more set in the final third, we thought he could deliver those moments. But it’s easier to say it than get it done!"

The victory keeps Arsenal within four points of league leaders Liverpool, who still have a game in hand against Wolves on Sunday. With the title race heating up, Merino’s unexpected heroics could be a defining moment in Arsenal’s push for the Premier League crown after more than two decades.