Gary Neville believes Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Özil need to take a look at themselves after Arsenal drew against defending champions Chelsea at Stamford Bridge without either player starting.

Ozil was left out of the contest due to an injury, whilst Alexis was benched to get some rest after playing 90 minutes on Thursday against FC Köln. So although neither was left out for tactical reasons, the Gunners still managed to take advantage tactically.

Danny Welbeck and Alex Iwobi came in and both did their bit to drop into midfield and force Chelsea wide. Gary Neville told Sky Sports that Alexis and Özil should be taking notes.

He said: “It’s not difficult and ultimately that video should go to Ozil and Sanchez because they do need to come back in, but if they are not going to do the job required, sit in the stands and let two players with less talent do the job you need to do in a big match.

“There’s no excuse for any player not to work back into a defensive position. Sanchez does normally work hard but Ozil now has no excuse not to get back into his position after seeing that today.”

The fact that Arsenal did so much better than at Anfield, without their two star players, is a bit damning for the duo. Neville seems keen to give Alexis a bit of a free pass but I don’t think he deserves one.

The 28-year-old presses defenders and sometimes chases down loose balls when he thinks he can win one, but I’ve almost never seen him patiently slot into defensive formation like Welbeck or Iwobi did on Sunday.

He’s just as liable to walk back after an attack as anybody else, in my opinion. If Arsenal stick with their current formation in the big games when Alexis and Özil are back, they’ll need to do what Welbeck and Iwobi did yesterday, or the 4-0 losses will probably return.