{"id":7943,"date":"2026-05-02T22:03:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T22:03:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=7943"},"modified":"2026-05-02T22:03:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T22:03:09","slug":"paul-merson-claims-arsenal-star-has-given-mikel-arteta-a-major-headache-for-atletico-madrid-semi-final-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=7943","title":{"rendered":"Paul Merson claims Arsenal star has given Mikel Arteta &#8216;a major headache&#8217; for Atletico Madrid semi-final | Football"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <div style=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: 300px 160px; gap: 2px; width: 460px; background: #eee; padding: 2px;\">\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u6574\u884c\u5bbd\u5e7f\u544a -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876674\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 90px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876676\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u5de6\u4fa7\u7ad6\u6392 -->\r\n  <div style=\"height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876672\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"height: 500px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876680\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u53f3\u4fa7\u6469\u5929\u697c\uff08\u548c\u5de6\u4fa7\u5b8c\u5168\u5bf9\u9f50\uff09 -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-row: 3\/5; height: 750px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876678\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  \r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e6\" data-zoneid=\"5876682\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n<\/div><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"646\" height=\"340\" src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Paul-Merson-bb3a.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=646\" class=\"article-image wp-image-28211018\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"sync\"\/>\t<\/div><figcaption>Paul Merson says Mikel Arteta now has a selection headache for Arsenal\u2019s semi-final against Atletico Madrid(Sky Sports)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Paul Merson believes Myles Lewis-Skelly has given Mikel Arteta a \u2018major headache\u2019 ahead of the second leg of Arsenal\u2019s Champions League semi-final against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>Arsenal moved six points clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League on Saturday with a 3-0 win at home to Fulham.<\/p>\n<p>Viktor Gyokeres scored twice, while Bukayo Saka also found the net in an impressive first half at the Emirates Stadium.<\/p>\n<p>Lewis-Skelly, meanwhile, started the game in a central midfield role with Martin Zubimendi benched.<\/p>\n<p>The 19-year-old, who has played as a left-back after his first-team breakthrough at Arsenal in 2024, impressed in midfield and Merson believes Arteta now has a tough selection decision ahead of Atletico\u2019s visit to the Emirates Stadium next week.<\/p>\n<p>Asked whether Lewis-Skelly should now start against Atletico next week, Merson told Sky Sports: \u2018It\u2019s a different kind of game, Fulham to Atletico Madrid.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018He\u2019s given Mikel a headache, a major, major headache.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"451\" src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SEI_295553794-72b3.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=646\" class=\"article-image wp-image-28211216\" alt=\"Arsenal's Myles Lewis-Skelly (left) and Fulham's Harrison Reed battle for the ball during the Premier League match at the Emirates Stadium, London. Picture date: Saturday May 2, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Adam Davy\/PA Wire. RESTRICTIONS: EDITORIAL USE ONLY No use with unauthorised audio, video, data, fixture lists, club\/league logos or &quot;live&quot; services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club\/league\/player publications.\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>\t<\/div><figcaption>Myles Lewis-Skelly impressed in midfield during Arsenal\u2019s 3-0 win over Fulham (PA Wire)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u2018He gave you that energy, he lifted everybody, he\u2019s come in and lifted everybody, he played on the front foot, he got close to people.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I just think recently, and I\u2019m a big fan of Zubimendi, I just find he\u2019s just been chasing the game recently, he nearly gets there.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018This lad [Lewis-Skelly] was tight, when he went to win a ball he won the ball, everything was simple, he did everything right.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Those simple passes give all your top players like Saka, Trossard, Eze, Gyokeres, they make everything tick together.<\/p>\n<div class=\"factbox\" data-ico=\"factbox_article\" data-track-module=\"factbox_article\">\n<h2 class=\"factbox-title\">\n\t\t\t\tArsenal&#8217;s remaining fixtures\t\t\t<\/h2>\n<div class=\"factbox-content\">\n<p>Atletico Madrid (H) \u2013 May 5<\/p>\n<p>West Ham (A) \u2013 May 10<\/p>\n<p>Burnley (H) \u2013 May 18<\/p>\n<p>Crystal Palace (A) \u2013 May 24<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u2018I don\u2019t think Zubimendi has been doing that recently, but I am a big fan of Zubimendi.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>When asked about Lewis-Skelly\u2019s performance, Arteta said: \u2018He fully deserves it, I\u2019ve been tough on him, he had a spectacular season last year when he jumped into the first team, he had some difficult moments after that, but he stayed very humble, very focused, very aligned with what we wanted to do, and I knew he was ready.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018He\u2019s been showing in training every day the opportunities that he had to play, he\u2019s done it and today he really stepped up and I thought he had an incredible performance.\u2019<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>For more stories like this,\u00a0check our sport page<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on <meta charset=\"utf-8\"\/><br \/>\n<strong>Facebook,\u00a0<\/strong><a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Metro_Sport\">Twitter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Instagram<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><svg><title>Arrow<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-right-arrow\" href=\"#common-right-arrow\"\/><\/svg><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: Mikel Arteta explains why Bukayo Saka came off at half-time against Fulham<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><svg><title>Arrow<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-right-arrow\" href=\"#common-right-arrow\"\/><\/svg><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: Martin Odegaard injury latest as Arsenal captain misses win vs Fulham<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><svg><title>Arrow<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-right-arrow\" href=\"#common-right-arrow\"\/><\/svg><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: Arsenal 3-0 Fulham: Viktor Gyokeres scores twice as Gunners go six clear at top<\/span><\/p>\n<section id=\"share-buttons-bottom\" class=\"share-buttons share-buttons-bottom\">\n\t\t\t<span><svg><title>Comment now<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#social-comment\" href=\"#social-comment\"\/><\/svg><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"share-bar-comments__label\">Comments<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<span><svg><title>Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#social-preferred-source\" href=\"#social-preferred-source\"\/><\/svg><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"share-bar-preferred-source__label\">Add as preferred source<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/section>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script async defer src=\"https:\/\/platform.instagram.com\/en_US\/embeds.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><!-- \u603b\u5bb9\u5668\uff1a\u6700\u5927\u5bbd908px Grid\u7d27\u51d1\u5e03\u5c40 -->\r\n<div style=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: 728px 160px; gap:2px; width:908px; background:#eee; padding:2px;\">\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u901a\u680f\u9876\u90e8\uff1a\u6700\u5927\u6a2a\u5e45 908x258 \u8de8\u6574\u884c -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column:1\/-1; height:258px; background:#ff6b6b; display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n    <!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114307\" data-width=\"908\" data-height=\"258\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114307});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u7b2c\u4e8c\u901a\u680f\uff1a728\u00d790 \u901a\u680f -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column:1\/-1; height:90px; background:#4ecdc4; display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n    <!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114300\" data-width=\"728\" data-height=\"90\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114300});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u5de6\u4fa7\u4e3b\u680f\uff1a\u591a\u5e7f\u544a\u5806\u53e0 -->\r\n  <div style=\"display:grid; 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display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n\t\r\n<!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114303\" data-width=\"125\" data-height=\"125\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114303});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u53f3\u4fa7\u7ad6\u680f\uff1a160\u00d7600 \u6574\u5217\u9ad8\u5e7f\u544a -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-row:3\/8; height:600px;  display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n    <!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114301\" data-width=\"160\" data-height=\"600\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114301});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n<\/div><br \/>\n<br \/> Paul Merson claims Arsenal star has given Mikel Arteta &#8216;a major headache&#8217; for Atletico Madrid semi-final | Football<br \/>\n<br \/>#Paul #Merson #claims #Arsenal #star #Mikel #Arteta #major #headache #Atletico #Madrid #semifinal #Football<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Paul Merson says Mikel Arteta now has a selection headache for Arsenal\u2019s semi-final against Atletico&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7944,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[617,1162,6035,706,317,8563,2299,867,3578,1161,836,4653,654],"class_list":["post-7943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-arsenal","tag-arteta","tag-atletico","tag-claims","tag-football","tag-headache","tag-madrid","tag-major","tag-merson","tag-mikel","tag-paul","tag-semifinal","tag-star"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Paul-Merson-bb3a_1777754853.jpg",1200,630,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Paul-Merson-bb3a_1777754853-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Paul-Merson-bb3a_1777754853-300x158.jpg",300,158,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Paul-Merson-bb3a_1777754853-768x403.jpg",640,336,true],"large":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Paul-Merson-bb3a_1777754853-1024x538.jpg",640,336,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Paul-Merson-bb3a_1777754853.jpg",1200,630,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Paul-Merson-bb3a_1777754853.jpg",1200,630,false],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Paul-Merson-bb3a_1777754853-1115x630.jpg",1115,630,true],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Paul-Merson-bb3a_1777754853-800x500.jpg",800,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Paul-Merson-bb3a_1777754853-1024x538.jpg",1024,538,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Paul-Merson-bb3a_1777754853-540x340.jpg",540,340,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Paul-Merson-bb3a_1777754853-400x250.jpg",400,250,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?author=1"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?cat=6\" rel=\"category\">Sports<\/a>","tag_info":"Sports","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7943"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7943\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}