Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has provided an explanation for the latest batch of alterations to his starting XI this evening.
Arsenal vs City
The Gunners are of course currently locked in action with Manchester City at the Emirates, in Sunday’s marquee Premier League fixture.
Arteta’s men headed into proceedings amid an altogether hit-and-miss spell of form of late, culminating in just one win from their last five across all competitions.
This 3-point haul, though, came in impressive fashion versus Leeds last weekend, with Arsenal having since followed up with a credible 1-1 draw with Benfica in the Europa League on Thursday night.
Securing another positive result this evening, however, will be far easier said than done.
This comes with Man City currently in the midst of a frankly remarkable spell of form of their own.
After getting the better of Everton at Goodison Park during the week, Pep Guardiola’s men made it 17 consecutive victories across all competitions, a stretch which unsurprisingly sees the Sky Blues sitting pretty atop the Premier League table.
Man City have scored 40 more goals than they’ve conceded during their 17 game winning streak.
Utterly relentless. 🔵 pic.twitter.com/P3GZt2YfJf
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) February 17, 2021
‘Don’t have a choice’
Further boosting the hopes of the visitors in north London, meanwhile, was word arriving ahead of kick-off that the in-form Ilkay Gundogan has returned to the City fold, to slot into midfield alongside Kevin De Bruyne:
Taking on the Gunners! 💪
XI | Ederson, Cancelo, Dias, Stones, Zinchenko, Fernandinho (C), Gundogan, Bernardo, Mahrez, De Bruyne, Sterling
SUBS | Steffen, Walker, Jesus, Aguero, Laporte, Rodrigo, Torres, Mendy, Foden
⚽️ @HaysWorldwide
🔷 #ManCity | https://t.co/axa0klD5re pic.twitter.com/oO3AdTf725— Manchester City (@ManCity) February 21, 2021
Mikel Arteta, on the other hand, has opted to ring the changes this evening.
The Arsenal boss reintroduced the likes of Pablo Mari, Mohamed Elneny, Kieran Tierney and Nicolas Pepe to his starting XI, with Emile Smith Rowe amongst those to have dropped out:
📋 Today’s team news is in!
🏴 @KieranTierney1 starts
🏴 @RobHolding95 returns
🇪🇸 @PabloMV5 will partner him#️⃣ #ARSMCI
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) February 21, 2021
In turn, speaking during his pre-match interview, Arteta was inevitably drawn on the latest batch of alterations to his line-up.
And the Spaniard went on to confirm that he was left with ‘no choice’ but to shake things up, amid struggles on the part of a number of his side’s stars to even train ahead of today’s fixture:
‘We don’t have a choice. We have players who have struggled to train the last few days.’
📺 Hear from @m8arteta ahead of kick-off as he discusses…
▪️ Squad rotation
▪️ Kieran’s return
▪️ Rob and Pablo
▪️ The evolution of today’s opponents🔜 #ARSMCI pic.twitter.com/UmZmhmpS5k
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) February 21, 2021
Arsenal vs Manchester City live streaming: Watch Premier League online
Manchester City ‘confident’ of extending Kevin De Bruyne’s contract soon
This article was edited by Josh Barker.
Arsenal betting odds, next game:
Leicester vs Arsenal odds: result, both teams to score, correct score & goalscorers
Arsenal’s latest videos
🤣 Our most unpredictable Q&A yet! | Martin Odegaard answers kids’ questions | Schooled
How many chips can Martin Odegaard eat in 30 seconds? What did he want…
2021-02-18T15:11:14Z
The greatest animated movie of all-time? | Jordan Nobbs & Lotte Wubben-Moy | World Cup of Everything
Jordan Nobbs and Lotte Wubben-Moy choose the greatest animated film of all-time in the…
2021-02-17T16:43:55Z
Arsenal latest news
Premier League table
# | Team | MP | D | P |
1 | Manchester City FC | 24 | 34 | 56 |
2 | Leicester City FC | 25 | 17 | 49 |
3 | Manchester United FC | 24 | 19 | 46 |
4 | West Ham United FC | 25 | 10 | 45 |
5 | Chelsea FC | 25 | 16 | 43 |
6 | Liverpool FC | 25 | 11 | 40 |
7 | Everton FC | 24 | 4 | 40 |
8 | Aston Villa FC | 23 | 11 | 36 |
9 | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 24 | 10 | 36 |
10 | Arsenal FC | 24 | 6 | 34 |
11 | Wolverhampton Wanderers FC | 25 | -6 | 33 |
12 | Leeds United | 24 | -3 | 32 |
13 | Southampton FC | 24 | -9 | 30 |
14 | Crystal Palace FC | 24 | -15 | 29 |
15 | Burnley FC | 25 | -12 | 28 |
16 | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 24 | -5 | 26 |
17 | Newcastle United FC | 24 | -15 | 25 |
18 | Fulham FC | 25 | -11 | 22 |
19 | West Bromwich Albion | 25 | -36 | 14 |
20 | Sheffield United FC | 25 | -26 | 11 |
Player | Team | Goals |
---|---|---|
Salah, Mohamed | Liverpool FC | 17 |
Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United FC | 15 |
Kane, Harry | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 13 |
Son, Heung Min | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 13 |
Calvert-Lewin, Dominic | Everton FC | 13 |
Vardy, Jamie | Leicester City FC | 12 |
Bamford, Patrick | Leeds United | 12 |
Gundogan, Ilkay | Manchester City FC | 11 |
Wilson, Callum | Newcastle United FC | 10 |
Watkins, Ollie | Aston Villa FC | 10 |
Rashford, Marcus | Manchester United FC | 9 |
Sterling, Raheem | Manchester City FC | 9 |
Barnes, Harvey | Leicester City FC | 9 |
Zaha, Wilfried | Crystal Palace FC | 9 |
Maddison, James | Leicester City FC | 8 |
Ings, Danny | Southampton FC | 8 |
Lacazette, Alexandre | Arsenal FC | 8 |
Aubameyang, Pierre-Emerick | Arsenal FC | 8 |
Soucek, Tomas | West Ham United FC | 8 |
Mane, Sadio | Liverpool FC | 7 |
Player | Team | Red Cards | Yellow Cards |
---|---|---|---|
Bellerin, Hector | Arsenal FC | 0 | 8 |
Gallagher, Conor | West Bromwich Albion | 0 | 8 |
Lundstram, John | Sheffield United FC | 1 | 6 |
Evans, Jonny | Leicester City FC | 0 | 7 |
Egan, John | Sheffield United FC | 1 | 6 |
Bissouma, Yves | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 1 | 6 |
Milivojevic, Luka | Crystal Palace FC | 1 | 6 |
Hayden, Isaac | Newcastle United FC | 0 | 7 |
Grealish, Jack | Aston Villa FC | 0 | 6 |
Doucoure, Abdoulaye | Everton FC | 0 | 6 |
Hojbjerg, Pierre | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 0 | 6 |
Xhaka, Granit | Arsenal FC | 1 | 5 |
Maguire, Harry | Manchester United FC | 0 | 6 |
Romeu, Oriol | Southampton FC | 0 | 6 |
Luiz, Douglas | Aston Villa FC | 0 | 5 |
Kante, N`Golo | Chelsea FC | 0 | 6 |
Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United FC | 0 | 5 |
Ward-Prowse, James | Southampton FC | 0 | 5 |
Soucek, Tomas | West Ham United FC | 1 | 4 |
Dallas, Stuart | Leeds United | 0 | 5 |
Player | Team | Assists |
---|---|---|
Kane, Harry | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 11 |
Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United FC | 10 |
Grealish, Jack | Aston Villa FC | 10 |
De Bruyne, Kevin | Manchester City FC | 9 |
Son, Heung Min | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 6 |
Rashford, Marcus | Manchester United FC | 6 |
Cresswell, Aaron | West Ham United FC | 6 |
Digne, Lucas | Everton FC | 6 |
Sterling, Raheem | Manchester City FC | 5 |
Maddison, James | Leicester City FC | 5 |
Firmino, Roberto | Liverpool FC | 5 |
Ward-Prowse, James | Southampton FC | 5 |
Werner, Timo | Chelsea FC | 5 |
Raphinha | Leeds United | 5 |
Robertson, Andrew | Liverpool FC | 5 |
Shaw, Luke | Manchester United FC | 5 |
Vardy, Jamie | Leicester City FC | 4 |
Bamford, Patrick | Leeds United | 4 |
Wilson, Callum | Newcastle United FC | 4 |
Barnes, Harvey | Leicester City FC | 4 |
Source: 101greatgoals.com