Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has a few tactical conundrums ahead of their trip to Premier League title rivals Man City on Sunday, with a few key members of the squad ruled out and unable to play in what is one of their most crucial games of the campaign.
Man City vs Arsenal – team news and injury updates
The north Londoners have come through a challenging week unscathed thus far, with Arteta’s unbeaten side taking all the spoils against Tottenham in a 1-0 win last weekend before coming away from Atalanta with a precious point in the Champions League on Thursday.
Attention now turns to their trip to the Etihad Stadium and third-successive away game, with Arsenal aiming to avoid defeat against the Premier League champions who have thwarted their title charge in each of the last two seasons.
Arsenal will be missing a few key players against City, most notably captain Martin Odegaard, who sustained ankle ligament damage during a 2-1 Norway win over Austria in the UEFA Nations League earlier this month.
Odegaard could be back for Arsenal’s clash against Liverpool at the end of October, according to some reports, but the Gunners are also aware he could miss this estimated return date as they err on the side of caution when it comes to his rehabilitation.
Mikel Merino is sidelined with a fractured shoulder as well, so he is another certain absentee for City as the Spaniard continues his recovery ahead of his eventual debut later in the year.
“A really competitive one,” said Arteta on Arsenal’s trip to Man City.
“We go to the home of the champions, the team that I think in Premier League history has been the most consistent ever, not only in terms of results but in terms of dominance and consistent top performances. This is the challenge, we have to go there and prove that again we’ve made another step and we can compete.
“We knew the schedule and we knew that it’s extremely rare to play in these conditions with three massive away games in six days, but it was what it was so we have prepared for that, both physically, mentally and tactically. We’re making sure that everyone is ready for it, because we’re going to need them, especially with the injuries that we had from the international break.”
Losing Odegaard and Merino means Kai Havertz could be dropped into midfield against Man City, like the German was against Atalanta, with one of either Gabriel Jesus or Raheem Sterling up front.
Arsenal without Takehiro Tomiyasu against Man City
Odegaard and Merino are by no means their only casualties, though, with Japan international Takehiro Tomiyasu still unavailable following his knee injury in the summer.
“Tomi is amazing. He’s the best right-back I’ve ever played with. He’s always focused. It’s an honour to play next to him,” said Ben White to DAZN Japan (via The Metro).
“Tomi does the simple things at a world-class level. He is very alert and he isn’t careless in games. From the beginning he’s completely understood English and speaks as well as I do.”
The defender is yet to feature this season as a result, and according to football.london, Tomiyasu will miss Arsenal’s game against Man City as well.
The estimated return date for him is Arsenal’s home game against Leicester City next weekend, so Arteta won’t be able to call upon the £100,000-per-week ace on Sunday.