Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta faces the prospect of a double attacking blow for next weekend’s penultimate Premier League game of the season at home to Newcastle United.
The Gunners produced a spirited fightback to come from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with champions Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday, but the point did not come without significant sacrifice.
Leandro Trossard benefitted from a new injury to Declan Rice to start up front, eventually moving out to the left-hand side in a switch with Gabriel Martinelli, but the Belgian then pulled up with an apparent hamstring problem.
To make matters worse for Arteta, Mikel Merino – who netted the visitors’ equaliser – was sent off for two bookable offences, and that red card means that the Spaniard has incurred a one-match suspension.
Merino would have been an option in the centre-forward role next weekend, but if both he and Trossard miss out, Arteta will be forced into an unwanted attacking alteration against the Magpies.
Arteta has three emergency options in Arsenal attack vs. Newcastle
© Imago
The bad news is that all of Merino, Trossard, Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz could sit out the visit of Eddie Howe’s side; the good news is that Bukayo Saka and Martinelli came through with no concerns.
Arsenal looked a much bigger threat with Martinelli leading the line and Trossard operating on the left in the second half of Sunday’s game, so it would not be a shock to see the former given the nod in the number nine slot next weekend.
The most natural solution on the left-hand side would be Raheem Sterling, but the 30-year-old’s time at Arsenal has been nothing short of disastrous, and he was not even considered to replace Trossard on Sunday.
Instead, Arteta gave the departing Kieran Tierney the nod, and while the Scotland international was deployed on the right-hand side on Merseyside, he is an emergency option on the left wing if the Arsenal boss continues to overlook Sterling.
Alternatively, Martinelli could hold his place on the left wing as Nathan Butler-Oyedeji starts in the number nine slot, but it is fair to say that the latter is simply there to make up the numbers right now.
Arteta slams “unacceptable” Arsenal standards in Liverpool draw
© Imago
Despite witnessing his side pull off a praiseworthy turnaround after an energy-zapping Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain, Arteta was still less than impressed with the application of his players in the first half in particular.
“What we did in the first half is nowhere near the level so to do it after that is not acceptable. We reacted, great but it is unacceptable,” the Arsenal manager told Sky Sports News.
“You don’t have to be fighting for trophies and then you might win or lose it. That’s the level you need. No-one can promise you win. You’re going to have six, seven teams who pray to be in the Champions League next year and then you see.
“The action that we had after 20, 25 minutes. When the team plays like this, that’s on me. It’s not about the players. It’s about we. No-one accepts those standards. It has to hurt a lot. Six times we played with 10 men this season. Look at what we can do when we are there.”
Arsenal’s draw means that they are yet to secure Champions League football for next season, but they will be more or less guaranteed a top-five finish in the Premier League table if Aston Villa fail to beat Tottenham Hotspur on Friday.
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