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Per Mertesacker admits Mesut Ozil faces battle to win back Arsenal place in Unai Emerys side

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Mesut Ozil made his Arsenal comeback in the midweek win over Qarabag (Picture: Getty)

Former Arsenal skipper Per Mertesacker admits Mesut Ozil is facing a battle to win back his place in Unai Emerys side.

Arsene Wengers successor has masterminded a 22-game unbeaten run in all competitions and will be confident of extending that sequence against relegation candidates Southampton on Sunday.

Ozil started the season promisingly but missed the previous five matches with a back injury before he made his comeback in Thursdays 1-0 over Qarabag in the Europa League.

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Per Mertesacker and Mesut Ozil were teammates at club and international level (Picture: Getty)

Emery has switched to a 3-5-2 formation in recent weeks, a system which does not appear to have a natural slot for Ozil to play in his favoured No.10 role.

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Mertesacker, who hung up his playing boots in the summer to take up a position heading up Arsenals academy, feels his former teammate is entering a decisive stage of his career.

Mesut is a player with magical abilities, said the former Germany international.

Last time (for the 1-0 won at home to Huddersfield on December 8) he was injured.

Now Im curious how he fights back. He can still be very valuable to Arsenal.

Speaking about Ozils chances of featuring at Southampton, Emery said: I think after his injuries he is coming back with good work and on Thursday he played with a good performance.

I think also he is OK for Sunday.