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Arteta told to restore Ozil back to the Gunners setup

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Manchester United legend Dimitar Berbatov suggests Mikel Arteta should consider a recall for Ozil into the Arsenal starting XI.

Dimitar Berbatov has called on Mikel Arteta to perhaps restore Mesut Ozil into the Gunners lineup.

Without exaggeration, Arsenal find themselves in relegation discussions and could be in a worrisome situation if they don’t start winning soon.

Six losses from their last eight games have left the Gunners lying in 15th place ahead of a tricky tie against Southampton on Wednesday.

The recurring theme in those losses have been evident struggles to create chances. Many have called for Ozil to be recalled into the Gunners XI with the German tipped to sort the creativity problems currently plaguing his side.

The midfielder last featured for the Gunners back in March and was even left out of their Premier League and Europa League squads.

Amid their current struggles, Berbatov says Arteta should probably give the Ozil decision some thought.

“I watched the game against Burnley,” he said as quoted by the Mirror. “I saw the red card, own goal and chances Arsenal missed. Sometimes when you have all this combined, you are going to suffer.

“You can get a red card, but when it is happening too often and that particular player Xhaka is making too many mistakes and not learning from them, you need to take some action, because the whole team suffers.

“It is not good for anyone – the chances they produce they need to score. I’m so surprised to see Aubameyang not scoring the way he knows how to do.

“There is more pressure on him to score goals as the captain. They need to start performing soon otherwise there will be a problem.”

He added: “They are not far away from relegation and that will be something to see if Arsenal are in a relegation battle,” he continued.

“Maybe Ozil should come back into the team, you need someone creative who can come up with solutions when things aren’t going well in the final third. At this moment, they need goals obviously.”

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