OPINION: Raheem Sterling’s Latest Display Offers a Glimmer of Hope for the Remainder of the Campaign

Written by Benjamin Kenneth

Having dismantled PSV a week earlier, a spot in the UCL quarter-final was virtually guaranteed ahead of the second-leg tie, therefore, this meant that Mikel Arteta could heavily rotate the side to manage the workload on a very thin squad.

Starts were handed out to players on the periphery of the squad with Oleksandr Zinchenko, Kieran Tierney and Raheem Sterling being a few names to start. Among the entire squad, the latter (Sterling) has arguably been the player to endure the most critique this campaign and it has fully been merited to a degree. All throughout the campaign, Sterling has failed to replicate nowhere near the form of his peak Man City days much to the frustration of the Arsenal faithful . His struggles this campaign has attracted all sorts of criticism throughout the campaign with some sections of the fanbase even calling for his loan to be cut short at one point in January.

In hindsight, With his playing time being limited by a youngster such as Ethan Nwaneri and also by a makeshift center-forward in Mikel Merino, perhaps that would've been a logical option but Arsenal opted to keep hold till the end of the campaign.

Against PSV last time out, he got a rare start in the side and despite the game being a dead rubber, he had one of his best games in an Arsenal shirt! After the full time whistle, his stats read:

2 assists

4 fouls won (most)

3 chances created (most) &

2/3 shots on target

And this culminated in him being awarded the man of the match award in what was a solid display.

By all means, he wasn't scintillating or electric throughout the encounter but was certainly a much improved display off the back of his last start against Leicester nearly a month ago. Furthermore his performance is certainly encouraging for the remainder of the campaign or till Bukayo Saka returns atleast. A performance like that would've boosted his confidence for sure but we can't tell for certain if he'll be able to sustain it for the rest of the campaign.

Looking ahead, the Gunners will be in action this weekend as we seek to finish the campaign on a high. We will welcome Chelsea to the Emirates in what will surely be a fascinating encounter. However, despite his standout display against PSV, Raheem Sterling will not be available for selection given he'll be coming up against his parent club.

Nevertheless, I suspect he'll still have enough chances to end his disappointing campaign on a high. Regardless of how it ends however, it will take a drastic turn of events for his stay to be made permanent.