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Arsenal Injury Updates Ahead of Brentford Clash

Arsenal: Saka could 'possibly' miss Bournemouth trip as Arteta reveals  86-game record is in jeopardy

In addition to the insult that was the 2-2 draw against Tottenham, Mikel Arteta had some injury news to report ahead of tomorrow’s Carabao Cup Third Round clash with Brentford. Arsenal had moments in the match against Spurs were they could have gained a stronghold of the game, but Ange Postecoglou’s side showed no fear and came at the Gunners.

Both Tottenham goals were attributed to errors from the home side, especially with Jorginho dallying on the ball instead of passing to an unmarked teammate, but the game was marred by a plethora of injuries suffered by the Arsenal players. Leandro Trossard was the first to get crocked in the warmup to the match, which was a big shame, as he was in a rich vein of form. Declan Rice was the next to get injured, playing only 45 minutes before he was eventually substituted for Jorginho. In the tail end of the encounter, Bukayo Saka, a player usually on the end of nasty tackles all game long, walked gingerly and was clearly in discomfort before he was replaced by Emile Smith Rowe.

With the Carabao Cup clash against Brentford tomorrow, as well as half an eye on the Premier League clash against Bournemouth, Arteta faced the journos and gave injury updates on his players

Declan Rice

The gaffer confirmed that Rice had not still trained and was hopeful it’s not something big. He’s certainly going to miss the match against Brentford and the club will be sweating over his fitness ahead of the Bournemouth game. 

When I think this Rice situation, I remember what happened with William Saliba last season regarding a back injury. He suffered the knock in March in the Europa League Round of 16 loss to Sporting CP and didn’t play till the campaign ended. 

I am hopeful Rice’s ordeal will not be like Saliba, because Thomas Partey is also injured, Mo Elneny is nowhere close to match fitness, leaving us with only Jorginho as the viable option in holding midfield. Hopefully, he recovers mentally from his weekend gaffe and focus on being the Jorginho that bossed St. James Park last season.

Bukayo Saka

The manager didn’t sound confident when discussing about Saka, stating that there is a strong possibility that he would miss the Bournemouth game, which automatically rules him out of the Brentford game. 

Saka is a player that’s always on the end of nasty tackles and he still finds a way to soldier on. However, he didn’t look good in the closing stages of the game and clearly needed to be subbed. Fabio Vieira has come of age this season and can deputize for Saka on the right, instead of Reiss Nelson. 

Leandro Trossard

Arteta also confirmed that Trossard will not be available for the Brentford game, and stated that he will have to be accessed on a day by day basis. I feel really sad for Trossard, because his quality was on show in the last two games and the club would have benefitted from his availability, as it would have afforded Gabriel Jesus to play in his favored center forward position. 

There were no changes to the long term absentees, Jurrien Timber, Thomas Partey and Gabriel Martinelli.

We will preview the Brentford game tomorrow.

Sayonara.

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Arsenal 2-2 Tottenham: Poor Performance. Spoils Shared.

Bukayo Saka scores against Tottenham Hotspur

Match Report – Match Highlights Player RatingsPost-Match Press Conference

Final Result: Arsenal 2-2 Tottenham (Romero OG 26′, Saka 54′ | Son 42′, 56′)

Arsenal XI (4-3-3): Raya; Zinchenko, Saliba, Gabriel, White; Rice (Jorginho 46′), F. Vieira (Havertz 46′), Odegaard; Saka (Smith Rowe 97′), Jesus (Nelson 77′), Nketiah 

After all the speculation regarding who would play between the sticks, Mikel Arteta all but confirmed that David Raya would be his No. 1 going forward with the Spaniard getting the nod ahead of Aaron Ramsdale for the North London Derby with Tottenham. Fabio Vieira got the nod ahead of Kai Havertz and an unfortunate injury in the warmup saw the in-form Leandro Trossard lose his place in the starting lineup to Eddie Nketiah.

Tottenham played very well from the onset with Ange Postecoglou sticking to his guns of playing his own game, and they drew first blood when Heung-Min Son scored from some passing play involving Pape Sarr and Yves Bissouma, but the offside flag spared Arsenal’s blushes. Arsenal had a glorious moment when Bukayo Saka found Gabriel Jesus on the back post but his attempt on target was saved by Guillermo Vicario. 

The pressure was getting to Tottenham as Destiny Udogie played a mistimed pass to Nketiah that saw him bear down on goal, but his near post shot was saved by Vicario. Nketiah had the option of blasting to the far post or providing a cut back to Vieira, but he did neither. This turned out to be his only telling contribution of the match, as he struggled badly in the game.

Saka continued to be a thorn in the flesh of the Tottenham defense, as he made Udogie receive a booking early on, but he played a role in the opening goal of the match when his attempted effort on goal was deflected by Christian Romero to his own net. The goal brought the wind to Arsenal’s sails and the Gunners should have gone two goals up when Jesus robbed James Maddison with a good press and was one on one with Vicario, but he chose power instead of precision as his shot sailed over the bar. Had he showed the same composure he had in the latter minutes of the Manchester United game, Arsenal would have given themselves some daylight in the fixture.

Martin Odegaard, fresh from his new contract extension, failed to impose himself on the game but helped a lot on the press with his defensive contributions, but he had an attempt that was saved by Vicario, after receiving a pass from Saka. At 1-0, Tottenham were still in the game and almost equalized when Brennan Johnson’s tame shot was clawed away from goal by Raya. The save was so good that his counterpart, Ramsdale, was sited on the dugout applauding the effort.

Sadly, the Gunners lost the lead just before the break thanks to some comical defending. Raya made a save from a Johnson shot and Declan Rice cleared the ball. Maddison received the loose ball and waltzed past Saka with consummate ease before providing a cut back that was finished by Son. However, that pass from Maddison came in between three Arsenal players and I was bemused with how Son managed to get the ball ahead of them. 

At the start of the second half, Arsenal showed up with two new players, with Havertz coming in for Vieira and Jorginho replacing Rice. While the Vieira sub was deemed ‘tactical’, there are concerns around Rice’s substitution, as he has suffered an injury,

“He (Rice) had some discomfort in his back, and he was telling us during the first half that he wasn’t comfortable. When we assessed him at half-time, he couldn’t continue, so we had to change him.”

Arsenal garnered some control at the start of the second half and Romero’s bad game got worse when he handled the ball in the box for a penalty. The VAR check took an eternity but Saka maintained his nerves of steel to convert the spot kick. We were still basking on the euphoria of getting the lead when Jorginho dallied on the ball, loosing it to Maddison and with Gabriel out of position, Maddison teed up Son who equalized again. 

That was such a monumental error in the game of this magnitude. The goal also sucked the wind from Arsenal sails as Tottenham gained a stronghold of the game and dominated proceedings. The visitors almost had a chance to get the lead and it took a Gabriel intervention to keep the stalemate intact. 

Late on, the fourth official raised his board and 10 minutes were indicated but Arsenal didn’t have it in them to break Tottenham down for the match winner. Even the introductions of Emile Smith Rowe and Reiss Nelson did nothing to change the outcome. Nelson actually came on as a sub for Jesus, instead of Nketiah, which bewildered many Arsenal fans as Nketiah was having a stinker.

Arteta has shown his ruthlessness with several positions, with Raya usurping Ramsdale being the latest in these series of major changes. However, I believe it’s high time Arsenal delves into the transfer window to get a better striker than Nketiah. Ivan Toney is one that comes to mind, as I believe he will be available for a transfer in January. With Jesus’ fitness issues, as well as other factors, having an upgrade on Nketiah will be beneficial to Arsenal’s title charge and a forward like Toney or Dusan Vlahovic will offer that.

All roads lead to the Carabao Cup clash with Brentford, and I would expect wholesale changes, especially with the latest injury concerns, as well as giving the likes of Nelson, Tomiyasu, Kiwior and Smith Rowe chances to feature on the side.

Sayonara.

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Arsenal 2-2 Tottenham: Player Ratings

Bukayo Saka can't resist trolling James Maddison with goal celebration in  Arsenal vs Spurs - Mirror Online

Arsenal hosted Tottenham in the 194th North London Derby, fresh off the heart-warming news that club captain, Martin Odegaard, extending his stay at the club till 2028. In all honesty, the home side underwhelmed in a game that they had shown dominance in recent seasons, with Tottenham finishing the game with greater possession, while matching Arsenal for total shots (13) and big chances (4).

Without further ado, here are the Gooner Daily player ratings for the Arsenal vs Tottenham game.

Starting XI

David Raya: Made an amazing save in the first half and was rather blameless for the goals conceded. (6)

Ben White: Should have done better to close down James Maddison for the first equalizer. (6)

William Saliba: Did well to win most of his duels. (7)

Gabriel: Looked very assured with Saliba alongside him. (7)

Oleksandr Zinchenko: Struggled defensively against Dejan Kulusevski. (6)

Declan Rice: Looked off the pace and was subbed at half time due to injury. (6)

Fabio Vieira: Returned ahead of Havertz to the starting XI and played okay. Was subbed at half time due to injury. (6)

Martin Odegaard: Led the press on the opposition in the first half, but didn’t influence the game as you’d expect from him. (6)

Gabriel Jesus: Was wasted on the wing due to Trossard’s late injury. Had a glaring chance to put his team ahead and missed it. (6)

Bukayo Saka: Was the undoubted star of the game, earning a goal and assist for his team. (9)

Eddie Nketiah: Had a stinker leading the line and failed to impose himself on the game (5)

Substitutes

Jorginho: Replaced Declan Rice in half time and was culpable for the equalizing goal in the second half. (5)

Kai Havertz: Put up another underwhelming performance. Had a moment to score a goal from the edge of the box and skied it. (5)

Reiss Nelson: Showed glimpses of some attacking impetus but didn’t make any major impact. (6)

Emile Smith Rowe: Did not play enough to earn a rating. N/A

Sayonara.

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