Arsenal hero Paul Merson can't understand Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas dropping Jermain Defoe. Merson wrote in his column for the Daily Star: "Jermain Defoe needs to get his goalscoring touch back at Arsenal today to take the heat off Andre ­Villas-Boas.

"But who knows if he will even play? He scored a hat-trick against Maribor in the Europa League and then found himself sat on the bench against Manchester City.

"It was a strange one, if you ask me. It's like the manager is trying to overcomplicate things to show how clever he is.

"I think he does things for effect, to show he's the man."