Mikel Arteta names Arsenal star who is giving him 'big headaches'

Mikel Arteta has named the Arsenal star who is giving him ‘big headaches’ and is ‘very close’ to starting more games.

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The Gunners are top of the Premier League table, two points clear of Manchester City with a game in hand heading into Saturday’s clash at Leicester City.

The north London side got back to winning ways last week with a 4-2 victory over Aston Villa after they went three top-flight games without a win prior to that.

Ahead of their match against the Foxes, Arteta revealed that summer signing Fabio Vieira is getting close to starting more games for the club.

The attacking midfielder has come off the bench in the Gunners’ last four Premier League games and provided an assist in the last match against Villa.

When quizzed how close Vieira was to getting a league start, Arteta said: ‘Very close.

‘He is starting to give me big headaches because I see every single day what he is capable of doing. A tremendous player.

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‘He now understands exactly what we want and physically he is a condition to compete at the right level in this league.

‘He brings qualities that we don’t have in the squad. Very eager to give him more.

Asked about the 22-year-old’s strengths and weaknesses, Arteta added: ‘If he needs to compete for 30 balls in the air against certain players in this league, I think he is going to lose 28.

‘But if we give him the ball in the right spaces, and if we ask him to do some defensive work he can do…

‘If we put him in front of goal the amount of times that we want to do, I think he will do really well in this league.

‘But if we do the opposite I don’t think he is going to do well.’

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