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
Arsenal moved six points clear of Manchester City at the highest of the Premier League on Saturday with a 3-0 win at home to Fulham.<\/p>\n
Viktor Gyokeres scored twice, while Bukayo Saka also found the web in a powerful first half on the Emirates Stadium.<\/p>\n
Lewis-Skelly, meanwhile, began the sport in a central midfield role with Martin Zubimendi benched.<\/p>\n
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 tricky selection decision ahead of Atletico\u2019s visit to the Emirates Stadium next week.<\/p>\n
Asked whether Lewis-Skelly should now start against Atletico next week, Merson told Sky Sports: \u2018It\u2019s a special form of game, Fulham to Atletico Madrid.<\/p>\n
\u2018He\u2019s given Mikel a headache, a significant, major headache.<\/p>\n \u2018He gave you that energy, he lifted everybody, he\u2019s are available in and lifted everybody, he played on the front foot, he got near people.<\/p>\n \u2018I just think recently, and I\u2019m an enormous fan of Zubimendi, I just find he\u2019s just been chasing the sport recently, he nearly gets there.<\/p>\n \u2018This lad [Lewis-Skelly] was tight, when he went to win a ball he won the ball, the whole lot was easy, he did the whole lot right.<\/p>\n \u2018Those easy passes give all of your top players like Saka, Trossard, Eze, Gyokeres, they make the whole lot tick together.<\/p>\n Atletico Madrid (H) \u2013 May 5<\/p>\n West Ham (A) \u2013 May 10<\/p>\n Burnley (H) \u2013 May 18<\/p>\n Crystal Palace (A) \u2013 May 24<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2018I don\u2019t think Zubimendi has been doing that recently, but I’m an enormous fan of Zubimendi.\u2019<\/p>\n 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 12 months when he jumped into the primary team, he had some difficult moments after that, but he stayed very humble, very focused, very aligned with what we desired to do, and I knew he was ready.<\/p>\n \u2018He\u2019s been showing in training every single day the opportunities that he needed to play, he\u2019s done it and today he really stepped up and I believed he had an incredible performance.\u2019<\/p>\n For more stories like this,\u00a0check our sport page<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Follow Metro Sport for the most recent news on ![\"Arsenal's](\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SEI_295553794-72b3.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646\")
\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\tArsenal’s remaining fixtures\t\t\t<\/h2>\n
\nFacebook<\/a>,\u00a0<\/strong>Twitter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Instagram<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n