Arsenal Legend Ian Wright Reveals Why Alexandre Lacazette Needed to Start the North London Derby

Alexandre Lacazette has not registered a full 90 minutes of football since the opening day of the season.

Having been left out of important games by Arsene Wenger, with Manchester City serving as the most recent example, cult hero, Ian Wright has insisted that the Frenchman must start in the north London derby.

Lacazette scored after coming off the bench for the Gunners against City while also being omitted from the starting 11 in Arsenal's humiliating 4-0 defeat to Liverpool in August, but was given the nod by his manager to start on Saturday.

Arsenal were without Olivier Giroud for the derby as he was set to miss the game due to injury. This ultimately made it incumbent for Wenger to start the former Lyon striker as it will definitely improve his starting 11 and make the task of defending a lot more difficult for their fierce rivals.

Although Wenger may have looked to revert to playing Sanchez alone up front, similarly to the City game, Ian Wright urged the longtime Arsenal boss to start with Lacazette, Ozil and Sanchez.

When speaking to Standard Sport, Ian Wright claimed: "We need our best team out, and Lacazette is a goalscorer of a high calibre.

"We saw that with his two goals for France against Germany [on Tuesday].

"You have got players [Sanchez and Ozil] who want to leave and Arsene is starting them in front of a £52m player, it does not make sense.

"Those are the kind of the decisions that upset fans."

With Arsenal looking to recover from a bitterly disappointing defeat to City, the decision of starting Lacazette could be a hugely beneficial, especially if he proves to be the difference between the two sides.