Mikel Arteta and Arsenal once more face a nervous wait over a host of key players with injuries continuing to cause major issues. Despite the growing number of regular concerns, Champions League progression is almost assured for the Gunners....CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE➤
Arsenal know that a win over Ligue 1 side AS Monaco – who are third in France, level on points with second-place Marseille but still five behind leaders Paris Saint-Germain – will all but earn them a place in the knockout stages of the revamped competition. Feyenoord, the team 25th in the group phase, are the only team able to catch Arsenal if Arteta can get three points on Wednesday night.
The Dutch giants face Sparta Prague before finishing with Bayern Munich and Lille, making Arsenal’s position all the more comfortable. The Gunners will be keen to move into the top eight, though, in order to qualify immediately for the last-16 and bypass a potentially difficult round-of-32 tie.
Arteta must balance those ambitions with an increasingly difficult Premier League picture that has seen Chelsea move above his side and into second – after Fulham managed a draw with Arsenal on Sunday. It’s a home match against Everton to follow and injuries need to be carefully managed.
Not only has Gabriel Magalhaes been out for the past two games following an issue picked up against Sporting, which resurfaced at West Ham, there are also problems for Riccardo Calafiori, Thomas Partey, and Jurrien Timber. The latter did play at Craven Cottage on Sunday, but was absent from training prior to facing Monaco.
Partey has struggled since the international break and didn’t feature at Fulham. Calafiori and Oleksandr Zinchenko were both missing from Tuesday’s open session in north London as well. Arteta had been hopeful of his defenders being fit for European action, “I hope, but it’s more a question for the doctors and physios to understand where we are,” the manager admitted.
“We are missing a lot of players in the back-line. The good thing is that whatever we put there they respond. They respond with a good attitude and performance.
“We know that when we have consistency there [in defence] how much it’s giving us. That’s a different season. It’s bringing different challenges. We’re trying to face them and we’re going to continue in that direction.”
Zinchenko is a new worry but unfortunately it’s not a new story for the player. The same is true of Partey and has been in recent times. Addressing the squad state ahead of Monaco, Arteta said: “We have to manage a lot of the players. Some of them probably aren’t going to be fit. Some are still a doubt. We have 24 hours to make a decision and hopefully it’ll be the right ones.”
It leaves plenty of questions for who will and will not be fit, especially with domestic action to follow at 3pm on Saturday. Here, football.london predicts the group Arteta will name. Unlike with the Premier League’s 20-man matchday squad restrictions, Arsenal have more leeway and could call on their academy to flesh out the numbers.
Goalkeepers: David Raya, Neto, Tommy Setford.
Defenders: Kieran Tierney, William Saliba, Jakub Kiwior, Maldini Kacurri, Josh Nichols, Ayden Heaven.
Midfielders: Martin Odegaard (capt), Jorginho, Mikel Merino, Declan Rice, Ethan Nwaneri, Myles Lewis-Skelly.
Attackers: Bukayo Saka, Raheem Sterling, Kai Havertz, Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus. ...CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE➤
Be the first to comment