Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta facing selection dilemma after just one game of Premier League restart

Midfielder Granit Xhaka picked up a knock early in the match before centre back Pablo Mari sustained an Achilles problem

Shrivathsa Sridhar
Thursday 18 June 2020 04:43 EDT
Comments
Fixtures confirmed as Premier League nears return

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says he cannot dwell on Wednesday’s 3-0 defeat at Manchester City as he has to focus on getting his starting lineup ready for their next Premier League game after seeing two players injured and one sent off.

Midfielder Granit Xhaka picked up a knock early in the match and centre back Pablo Mari sustained an Achilles problem later in the first half.

David Luiz, who came on for Mari, was sent off in the 49th minute after conceding a penalty.

“We have to see who we have available to get that starting 11 after the injuries we got tonight,” Arteta, whose side visit Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday, told Arsenal’s website.

“The boys made a great effort here playing with for so long with 10 men after three months. So let’s recover first and then tomorrow we can start to think about that.”

Arteta said that he had left Mesut Ozil out of his squad for “tactical reasons” having picked the German playmaker regularly before the Covid-19 disruption.

“I need players in other positions so I decided to leave him out,” Arteta added.

Arsenal are ninth in the league with 40 points from 29 matches.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in