Gary Neville is wrong, Mikel Arteta would not take Chelsea’s front three over Arsenal’s
Gary Neville was on top form this weekend and made a number of striking comments and debate points when discussing Arsenal and Chelsea.
The Sky Sports pundit was full of praise for the Gunners in the main and suggested that Arsenal will take some stopping in terms of the title.
Neville also praised how well drilled Arsenal are in terms of their defensive structure.
However, there was one thing that Neville suggested that raised eyebrows and that was that Mikel Arteta would swap his front three with Chelsea’s – in terms of individual ability.
But while Joao Pedro, Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers are all good players, there’s just no way Arteta is doing that swap right now.
Why Mikel Arteta would not swap his Arsenal forwards for anyone
While Neville makes a valid point about the impact of Chelsea’s front three in terms of goals, to suggest Arteta would swap his own three is a big call.
For a start, Kai Havertz is absolutely crucial to this Arsenal team and there’s just no way he is being replaced by Joao Pedro in this XI, not a chance.
Out wide on the right, Bukayo Saka has been Arsenal’s main man for years now. Sure, Cole Palmer might have the magic moments in his game but he went missing yesterday and Saka, over a longer period, has proved himself. In our opinion, Saka is superior to Palmer right now.
The only minor debate to be had is if you’d swap Christos Tzolis for Morgan Rogers. At the moment, there is an argument to say Rogers offers more and his Premier League experience does count.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Gary Neville suggested Mikel Arteta would swap Arsenal's front three for Chelsea's attacking trio
— Transfermarkt English (@TMuk_news) September 6, 2026
Does the Man United icon have a point? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/BziJgBgBPn
However, much like Havertz’s role in this Arsenal team, Tzolis offers so much going the other way.
This Arsenal team is set up with an ethos of defending as a team. This has taken years of work from Arteta and has everyone’s buy-in.
If he suddenly added a Cole Palmer to the mix, he’d be sacrificing that defensive element.
As of right now, Arsenal’s front three trumps Chelsea’s in terms of success.
