Premier League is back in action again after the international break. The stage is all set for today. As the North London derby will take place at the Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium. However, the Gunners will not be very pleased to face their rivals in their crisis situation.
Arsenal had a good start at the beginning of the season. But things started to get messed up gradually for them. The Gunners will miss almost 6-7 squad players ahead of the derby. Two of the most important players – Declan Rice will be suspended (red card) and Martin Odegard will miss out due to an ankle injury. New signings Mikel Merino(broken shoulder) and Riccardo Calafiori(calf injury) will also miss out their first ever derby meeting due to injuries.
The Spurs will be more than ready to face their arch-rival at their home turf. Though, Arsenal is still unbeaten in the league. But they were not happy with the results against the Seagulls in the matchday 3. It caused them to lose momentum early in the title race. They will be hungry for the 3 points against the Spurs this weekend. In the absence of such important players we can see Arteta using his bench tactfully. As per reports club’s young prodigy Ethan Nwaneri can make his mark against the Spurs.
Arteta’s stance on the rumor
The recent situation with the Gunners camp has left only 2 midfielders in their squad- Thomas Partey and Jorginho. Both of them are above their 30’s. Partey has started all the three games so far this season under Arteta. However, Jorginho is yet to play a minute in the league.
It is most likely that Jorginho will start in place of suspended Rice. Jorginho was present in a recent David Seaman podcast where the player was seen very coy to admit that fact. But reports are also saying that Arsenal young prospect 17 year old Ethan Nwaneri can start in the derby.
Manager Mikel Arteta has shared his stance on the rumor while speaking to Evening Standard. He said,
“We have to adapt throughout the season, we are going to have this kind of situation in the future too. It has happened very early, since the second game. The bench against Brighton was very different to the one we probably all expected.”
Arteta claimed that they will not hesitate to use young talents like Ethan if required.
“We have to face these hardships and use the opportunity as the kids have given us a lot of hope and right reasons to count on them. If we have to, then we will, for sure.” Arteta even mentioned the development of Nwaneri. “Huge development, I think big credit to everybody working in the academy. He has been doing very well, physically very mature and personally also. His game understanding has improved a lot.”
Will Nwaneri start the game?
Despite all the praises the Spaniard never confirmed whether Nwaneri will play or not. It naturally seems less likely for Arteta to use such a young player to start in an important game like this. Though Nwaneri is a great talent but experience is a big factor.
Jorginho is a very experienced midfielder. He has played 7 years of English football and even won the Champions League with Chelsea. So, to ignore a player of Jorginho’s caliber can be a great mistake. Even Arteta knows how good he is. The Italian was used frequently last season by him.
However, Jorginho hasn’t played full 90 minutes since his arrival at the Emirates. So we can see Nwaneri come off the bench in the second half. Nwaneri made his professional debut against Brentford in 2022 at the age 15. It made him the youngest ever Arsenal player to do so.
We will also see Raheem Sterling make his debut appearance for the Gunners. It will most likely be a substitute appearance, but who knows what Arteta and management decides. However there is no doubt that the derby will be as exciting as ever this season too.
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