Arsenal legend Paul Merson says supervisor Mikel Arteta has an actual headache to take care of forward of his facet’s looming conflict towards Premier League title rivals Man Metropolis on the Etihad Stadium, in what’s arguably their greatest recreation of the season to this point.
Arsenal dealt choice dilemmas with key males unavailable
The north Londoners shall be unable to name upon a number of key gamers for his or her journey to the Etihad Stadium, with captain Martin Odegaard, midfielder Mikel Merino, defender Takehiro Tomiyasu, left-back Kieran Tierney and Ukraine worldwide Oleksandr Zinchenko all sidelined these days.
Odegaard shall be out for weeks after sustaining ankle ligament harm on worldwide obligation with Norway, whereas summer time signing Mikel Merino is out with a shoulder fracture and will not be again until late subsequent month on the earliest.
Tomiyasu’s knee harm means he will not doubtlessly be again till their residence recreation towards Leicester Metropolis subsequent weekend, with Zinchenko lacking their final two video games after choosing up a calf downside.
Arsenal’s subsequent 5 Premier League video games | Date |
|---|---|
Man Metropolis (away) | September 22 |
Leicester Metropolis (residence) | September 28 |
Southampton (residence) | October 5 |
Bournemouth (away) | October 19 |
Liverpool (residence) | October 27 |
Tierney’s estimated return date is unknown, however a certainty is that he will not be donning Arsenal purple when Arteta’s facet journey to Manchester in the present day. Their scarcity of midfielders means each Thomas Partey and Jorginho have been completely essential, so sporting director Edu Gaspar shall be relieved that he did not try to promote both man in the summertime window.
The latter began Arsenal’s 1-0 derby win over Tottenham final weekend, enjoying a key function in thwarting the house facet’s assault while offering steadiness in midfield subsequent to Partey.
Nevertheless, Declan Rice’s return to the fold towards Atalanta noticed the £110,000-per-week star dropped for his or her attract Bergamo on Thursday.
Paul Merson says Arteta has an actual downside over Jorginho
Writing in his column for sportskeeda, pundit Merson believes that Jorginho presents an actual downside for Arteta to resolve within the type of a variety dilemma.
“It will not be as comfy as the sport towards Tottenham,” wrote Merson. “I’ve a robust feeling Jorginho will play this recreation, regardless of Declan Rice coming back from his suspension.
“With Kai Havertz in midfield the opposite day, it actually helped each Thomas Partey and Jorginho. One factor Jorginho does very well is, he retains the ball. Throughout the 1-0 win at Emirates final season, Metropolis couldn’t contact him, he was simply too good.
“It is an actual headache for Arteta now. He should resolve whether or not he ought to play Jorginho or not. A fast phrase on William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes as nicely, they’re the very best centre-back pair within the league. However I really feel generally the work that occurs in entrance of them goes unnoticed. Partey and Rice are each very disciplined and supply lots of cowl for the centre-backs.
“I like John Stones and Ruben Dias collectively, however they do not play with one another persistently sufficient just like the Arsenal duo.”
