‘More energy’: Arteta suggests one Arsenal player may have been more enthusiastic on Saturday

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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has praised Gabriel Martinelli and believes he offered more energy in the 1-0 win over Leicester City on Saturday.

Arteta told Football London that he thinks taking Martinelli out of the starting lineup against Aston Villa may well have paid dividends.

Martinelli was benched at Villa Park before coming on to seal a 4-2 win with the final goal.

The Brazilian came back in against Leicester though, returning on the left wing with Leandro Trossard playing up front.

Arteta believes that giving Martinelli a ‘breather’ allowed him to return with even more ‘energy and enthusiasm’.

Arteta praised Martinelli’s ‘fantastic’ goal and added that his new contract to stay at Arsenal is a huge positive too.

“It was really important for him as well,” said Arteta. “Sometimes you have to give someone a breather to come back with even more energy and enthusiasm. Today he contributed with a fantastic goal that gives us the win. Delighted on his contract because we had been working on that for a while and we want to keep our best players at the club and he’s really committed to what we want to do,” he added.

Gabriel Martinelli needs to kick on again for Arsenal

Martinelli is obviously a top young talent but those players tend to go through ups and downs over the course of a season.

Before scoring against Villa, Martinelli had failed to find the net in eight straight games.

After coming back from the World Cup with two goals in two, Martinelli endured something of a slump.

Now with two in two again after scoring a lovely winner against Leicester, Martinelli will now hopefully go on a real run of form.

The speedy Brazilian will be vital for Arteta in pursuit of the Premier League title and Saturday showed it.

Martinelli has so much talent and potential at just 21 and having found the net on Saturday, he may well feel that another goalscoring run is on the cards.

The addition of Leandro Trossard gives Martinelli real competition down the left flank and Arteta isn’t afraid to take him out of the team.

Martinelli experienced that against Villa and seemingly didn’t like it having hit back with two goals – and there could be more to come.