Danny Murphy predicts Arsenal vs PSG and names ideal Ben White replacement

Ex-England midfielder Danny Murphy has backed Arsenal to end the season on an almighty high by winning both the Champions League and the Premier League.

Arsenal have never before come out on top in Europe’s premier competition, with the side’s crushing defeat to Barcelona back in 2006 representing their one and only appearance in a final.

Two decades on, Mikel Arteta’s Gunners will be looking to banish the painful memories of that night in Paris – but they know it will be no mean feat against the holders Paris Saint-Germain.

Though PSG boast an embarrassment of riches throughout their squad, it’s in the attacking areas that Luis Enrique possesses the tools to dismantle any opposition team, with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Desire Doue and Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele firing on all cylinders this season.

It should come as no surprise that the the Ligue 1 champions top the charts for goals scored in this year’s tournament having netted a total of 44 times in their 16 matches, compared to Arsenal’s 29.

But Arsenal will be confident in their own strengths, particularly from set-pieces, where they have wreaked havoc across the campaign, both domestically and in Europe.

However, a season-ending injury to Ben White has left Arteta with a possible selection headache at right-back, with Jurrien Timber still yet to make his return from a groin problem.

‘It’s a shame for Ben White,’ Murphy said on talkSPORT after it was confirmed that the England defender had suffered a ‘significant’ medial knee ligament injury.

‘He seems to be in Thomas Tuchel’s good books and had just started to get his form back a little bit, playing regularly because of Timber’s injury.

‘He’s a decent player.’

After White was forced off at West Ham, Gary Neville received some criticism for claiming the defender ‘asking for trouble’ by making a ‘weak’ challenge on Crysencio Summerville.

But Murphy partially agreed with Neville’s remarks given White ‘dangled a leg’ rather than ‘going in full tilt’ at the London Stadium, where the Gunners restored their five-point lead at the top of the Premier League.

‘I know Gary Neville had a little criticism of the way he made that tackle… I kind of make him [Neville] right in a way,’ Murphy explained.

‘I missed a final once by dangling a leg. Rio Ferdinand came through me hard away at Leeds and I did my ligaments, missed a final because of it.

‘I look back on that tackle and think I should have gone in full tilt.

‘The problem you’ve got now is that the way the rules are, especially the follow-through rule, even if you do go in full tilt but you catch somebody on the way through, you may get a red card. It actually encourages you to be a bit more tentative.

‘Neville is right. The problem is that you’re overthinking because of the fact that if you really go in, there’s chance of a red, but the reality is that a red is better than an injury.

‘White probably looks back on it and thinks he should have gone through fully.’

Murphy expects Cristhian Mosquera to line up at right-back if Timber fails to return to full fitness in time to face PSG on May 30.

More accustomed to playing at centre-half, it could prove a long night for the Spaniard up against one of Europe’s most in-form and exciting attackers in Kvaratskhelia.

But according to Murphy, Mosquera coming in for White as a makeshift full-back would not be ‘the end of the world’.

‘It doesn’t bear thinking about, does it?’ Murphy said when contemplating having to go toe-to-toe with PSG’s flying Georgian winger..

‘Mosquera is a defender, he’s a centre-half, and he’s quick. He can play right-back, he can sit in position and just pick him up and have a one-vs-one battle. It’s not the end of the world, but it’s not ideal.

‘He’s the best winger in the world at the moment. He’s got wonderful physicality and strength but a brilliant, intelligent football brain: when to play quick, when to keep the ball, he can run past people.

‘He can play both sides as well, he can play on the right, that’s the flexibility of PSG. Sometimes you’ll see him on the right, on the left… Ousmane Dembele will go on the left or the right, Desire Doue will go on the left or the right.

‘It’s a big ask for Arsenal, they’re going to have to be pretty perfect to beat them on the night.’

But despite his glowing praise of PSG, Murphy sprung a surprise as he backed Arsenal to ‘nullify’ Enrique’s all-star attack and win a historic double this season.

‘The great thing for Arsenal is that if they get this league title over the line, which it looks like they will, the Champions League is kind of a free hit, it’s a free hit,’ the former Liverpool and Tottenham star added.

‘They’ve won the league, job’s done, so they can really enjoy it and the pressure is off, whereas if they messed this up now, drew with Burnley or lost to Palace on the last day, can you imagine…?

‘For some reason, I don’t know why, not on logic really, I think they’ll win both.

‘They’ll give PSG that much respect and deflate them and nullify them and then probably go and win it on a set-play or something because finals are nervy.’

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