Arsenal supervisor Mikel Arteta is ready to bench a high-profile member of his squad for his or her blockbuster conflict away to Premier League title rivals Man Metropolis on Sunday, with the Spaniard seemingly making a call on his group already.

Man Metropolis vs Arsenal – group information and damage updates

The Gunners journey to Manchester for his or her third big sport of the week, having already crushed north London rivals Tottenham 1-0 within the derby final weekend and thereafter coming away from Atalanta with a 0-0 draw within the Champions League on Thursday evening.

Arsenal can be in good spirits after this promising run of outcomes with out key gamers, most notably membership captain and chief creator Martin Odegaard. The Norway worldwide sustained “important” ankle ligament injury on worldwide obligation, and has been absent from the sector ever since as he continues his restoration.

“The scan confirmed some injury across the ligaments within the ankle so we’re going to miss him,” stated Arteta in an Odegaard damage replace earlier than Atalanta.

“It is one thing fairly important so we’re going to lose him for some time. Hopefully not months. He is our captain, he is been one of many greatest and finest gamers in our group. Our identification could be very linked to how he performs and behaves. It is a large take a look at for the group to see how in a position we’re to indicate a distinct face.”

There have been preliminary fears that the 25-year-old could possibly be absent until Christmas, however stories since have claimed that Arsenal are hopeful Odegaard may return for his or her match towards Liverpool on October 27.

In the meantime, summer season signing Mikel Merino is sidelined with a shoulder fracture, so he’s additionally set to overlook their face-off towards Metropolis. The Spain worldwide joins Kieran Tierney (hamstring), Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee) and Oleksandr Zinchenko (calf) – who’ve been lacking by means of damage as properly.

On the opposing aspect, Kevin De Bruyne is an damage doubt for Man Metropolis, and supporters can be hoping that the Belgian misses out on what’s a fully pivotal conflict. Oscar Bobb and Nathan Ake are dominated out towards Arsenal, however aside from that, Metropolis have a near-fully match squad.

Arsenal set to bench Raheem Sterling towards Man Metropolis

The absences of Merino and Odegaard give Arteta an actual choice headache. Regardless of his effectiveness in a makeshift centre-forward function, Kai Havertz was dropped into midfield towards Atalanta with Gabriel Jesus taking part in up prime as an alternative.

This arguably stifled Arsenal’s standard attacking aptitude, particularly with out Odegaard, so it is going to be attention-grabbing to see if Arteta opts to do the identical factor towards Metropolis. In keeping with GiveMeSport, one man he will not be turning to proper from the off is summer season signing Raheem Sterling.

The Englishman, who Arsenal are paying round £163,000-per-week throughout his mortgage from Chelsea, is but to make his full debut for the Gunners – as an alternative settling for cameos off the bench towards Spurs and Atalanta.

GMS write that Arteta is ready to bench Sterling towards Man Metropolis as soon as once more, so it seems the 29-year-old should wait a short time longer for his first begin. It’s unclear how the Spaniard is planning to make use of Sterling over the course of 2024/2025, however Arteta has revealed that the ex-Liverpool and Metropolis star is determined to show his price.

“When somebody has acquired that in his stomach you sense it right away,” stated Arteta on Sterling. “Clearly, I need not uncover something about his high quality and what he can deliver to the group.

“What I see is starvation. He’s a participant who desires to play each minute of each sport. When that isn’t the case he isn’t completely satisfied.”