Morning.
It’s our first home league game of the season as we take on Leeds later this afternoon. Obviously there’s no Kai Havertz after the knee injury he sustained, and on the German, Mikel Arteta wasn’t necessarily forthcoming with the details in his press conference, saying:
He’s certainly not fit for this match. Unfortunately, he picked up an injury. We don’t really know yet the extent of it, I think we need a bit more time and some more tests, and after that we will have more clarity about the next steps. I prefer not to talk about the specifics, but he’s not fit, as I said. We need to explore that issue a little bit further and decide what we’re going to do.
Some reports say that Arsenal want to wait and see, and hope a solution can be found with rest/rehab/physio etc, but if not, he may require surgery. German outlet Bild say it’s an issue with cartilage in the knee, which is a bit of a worry as it’s so vague, but let’s see how it plays out. What it means for today is that Viktor Gyokeres will start again, and it’d be great for him to get off the mark and ease some of the pressure that comes with being a high profile summer signing at a big club.
It’s clear that some of the narrative around him after his first 60 minutes of competitive football for the club was ridiculous and overblown, but unfortunately we exist in a world where much of the media reaction to things is exactly that. He didn’t get much in the way of service last week, and hopefully that’s different today, along with the overall Arsenal performance.
Last week our midfield didn’t really function the way you’d like, but we learned afterwards that Martin Zubimendi had been quite ill in the build-up to the United game, so clearly he wasn’t 100%. On top of that, whether it was the ball in the face or something else (proximity to Zubimendi and his illness), Declan Rice looked a long way from his best as well. So hopefully today those two, along with Martin Odegaard, can control things in a way which provides the kind of domination and chances you want to see, and that Big Vik can benefit.
There’s some doubt over Ben White who went off at Old Trafford but Jurrien Timber should be available – he’s in the training pics at least! Pick one of Riccardo Calafiori or Myles Lewis-Skelly at left-back, and then the only decision Arteta has is who to start on the left. Gabriel Martinelli wasn’t great last week, but he wasn’t alone there; Leandro Trossard is more ready than he was seven days ago after a little injury; and there’s Noni Madueke to consider too. My gut feeling tells me he’ll go for the latter today, but regardless those are three solid options for the manager to choose from, and to have available to him from the bench.
Leeds come into this one on the back of an opening day win, so that takes some of the pressure off. It doesn’t make this a free hit, but all the expectation is on Arsenal today, and on today’s opposition Arteta says:
Very impressed. I’ve been watching them, what they did in pre-season, what they did on Monday, what they did last year, in the manner that they did it. Big compliments to the way they play, to the coach. I’m sure they’re going to put a really difficult match against us tomorrow.
Which is kinda what he says about every team we’re about to play. He praises their style, their coach/manager, and basically gives them nothing whatsoever that they can pin up on the dressing room wall as motivation. He’s like the reverse Ivan Toney, no ‘nice kickabout with the boys’ stuff from our boss. I don’t know how Leeds will approach this, as a newly promoted side they could come and have a go, and if it goes wrong, there’s not too much focus on that, so I think we should be prepared for them to be a bit more adventurous than some sides who come to sit deep and frustrate us.
Then again, even if that isn’t what they plan on doing, sometimes we play in a way which forces teams into that, and it’s been our Achilles Heel more than once. So, if that’s how it transpires, let’s hope we have the tools to unlock that with the players we’ve added this summer, and we get our home season off to a winning start.
As ever, we’ll have live blog coverage for you, and you can find all the post-game stuff on Arseblog News. There’s a preview podcast over on Patreon now too, so get stuck into that if you fancy.
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As you’d expect, Arteta was also asked about Eberchi Eze but played it with a straight bat, saying he can’t talk about a player who isn’t officially one of ours yet. He did respond to a question about whether reports our interest ramped up because of the injury to Kai Havertz, and said:
I think it was very clear when I said that it [our transfer business] wasn’t done. We were very actively trying to look at the possibilities that could come. We are not reacting to anything. We’ve been very prepared and understand what we could do. We have decided that this is the moment to do it.
Will he be there today? I feels like one of those things that happens more rarely than it should: a player everyone knows we’re going to sign but it’s not quite official yet is there to watch his ‘new’ team. I remember Sylvain Wiltord being at Highbury years ago, but these days everything tends to stay quiet, perhaps so as not to spoil the reveal that is so tied to #content. Either way, we can talk more about Eze at a later date. After a week dominated by discussion of someone who can’t play for us at this point, it’s down to the rest of the players to get the right result today, so fingers crossed for that.
Come on you reds!
