Steve Nicol thinks that Arsenal would be a mid-table side without Mesut Özil and Alexis Sanchez, despite some recent claims to the contrary.

After the match between Arsenal and Chelsea, some pundits like Martin Keown said that the strong performance without Alexis and Özil proved that the team don’t need the pair to perform.

However, Steve Nicol, speaking on ESPN, said that the situation isn’t quite as simple as that. He said: “If Arsenal want to be a mediocre, run-of-the-mill team, then they don’t play the Ozils and the Sanchezs,” reports the Express.

“The point is, Arsene Wenger wants to play football and if you’re going to have a team that wants to play football, you have to play Ozil. If you don’t play Ozil and you don’t play Alexis Sanchez, you’re basically turning yourself into a run-of-the-mill team.

“If you don’t play Mesut Ozil, then you’re putting in an inferior footballer and that means your going more for the physicality over the quality. If Arsenal want to be a mediocre, middle-of-the-table team, fill your team Arsene with strong characters but less footballers, and that’s where you will end up.”

For all the talk of how organised and defensively solid the Gunners were against Chelsea, it’s true that the changes didn’t bring about the team’s first away goal of the season, even if they did bring the first clean sheet.

So, it was an improvement in one sense, but the Gunners haven’t yet proved they can still find goals when Alexis and Özil are both out of the team. And that’s what Alexis and Özil are both best at helping provide, when you look at their goalscoring contributions in the last few seasons.

Özil’s creative output, in terms of number of assists, chances created, and passes in the final third, is second to none since the German joined in 2013/14 via Squawka. Alexis meanwhile, was the Gunners’ top scorer last season.

Arsenal may have looked more solid against Chelsea, but for the wins to come I agree they need the likes of Alexis and Özil as well. However, I doubt the London club would be mid-table without them.