WENGER’S HIT SQUAD
Arsene has new deadly duo
ARSENAL boss Arsene Wenger is pinning his hopes on a new dynamic duo.
Gone are the days when Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp used to terrorise opposition defences.
But Wenger believes he has a new partnership ready to take the Premier League by storm in Alexandre Lacazette and Alexis Sanchez.
The pair started together for only the second time in Sunday’s 2-0 win over Brighton and Wenger (below) believes the goals will soon start to flow.
He said: “Overall it’s a promising combination. There are some goals in there and with the providers around, I believe we can score more goals.
“Both of them can score goals, both of them can give assists. So I expect a positive response from them on that.
“We work on the partnership in training but the best way is to play games together, so I believe that will come quickly.”
Sanchez has a goal and two assists this season but showed flashes that he is getting back to his best against the Seagulls.
He set up Alex Iwobi for the killer second goal with an outrageous backheel and constantly linked ® up well with Lacazette, who has scored four goals in seven league games.
But Wenger believes their best is yet to come and has challenged them to keep feeding off each other.
He said: “First of all, you need the desire to adapt to each other, to make each other better. Great players, together with the right attitude, they make each other better.
“If they have not got the right attitude, then it is a problem, but the two of them look to have the right attitude.”
Lacazette scored 28 goals in 30 league games for Lyon last season before his £52m switch, while Sanchez hit 24 in 38 for Arsenal.
But if either hits a barren spell, Gunners captain Per Mertesacker reckons Arsenal can rely on Olivier Giroud to plug the gap. Giroud, who rejected a move to Everton in the summer, recently hit his 100th goal for the club, and Mertesacker said: “Look at the impact he has when he comes off the bench.
“He’s so valuable to our squad. He scores lots of goals. When he wasn’t playing, he’s never thought about giving up or taking another road.”