It’s time for Matchweek 4 of the Premier League and the North London Derby is already upon us! Mikel Arteta and co. will be taking on Ange Postecoglou’s men at the Tottenham Hotspurs stadium on Sunday. The historic fixture is always one to mark in the English Football Career and this season it will be no different. Yet, this time it might be a huge test for Arteta’s Arsenal, as they have been hit hard with Suspensions and Injuries in the recently concluded International Break.
Come 6.30 pm on Sunday, Mikel Arteta will be forced to play an Arsenal side with no starter midfielders available for Selection. The Midfield trio of Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard and the new signing Mikel Merino will be forced to watch the game from the sidelines. To make matters worse, Riccardo Calafiori suffered a terrible knock from Ousmane Dembele during Italy’s historic win in Paris and will not be able to play against Spurs this weekend.
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard was injured during Norway’s fixture against Austria and won’t be available against Tottenham. Mikel Arteta will also be missing out on the services of Declan Rice who is suspended for Sunday’s game due to the red card he was shown against Brighton. Whereas, Mikel Merino, the new signing is yet to feature for Arsenal after the Spaniard got a shoulder injury in the first training session at the London Club.
Can Arteta cope with Arsenal’s injury crisis?
Against a full-strength Tottenham side who look hungry for more points after a showing of 1 win, 1 draw, 1 loss in their opening 3 matches, Arteta will have to rally his troops and come out on top if he doesn’t want to face his first loss of the season. Let’s first look at who will Mikel Arteta employ to substitute for his injured and suspended players.
With only 2 out-and-out Midfielders present who are still fit in the Arsenal squad, we might see Thomas Partey and Jorginho feature in place of Rice and Merino. Meanwhile, for the CAM position, Arteta could either play Kai Havertz with Gabriel Jesus who is back from Injury as a striker, or give Fabio Viera a chance in that position. Fabio Viera has only impressed whenever given the opportunity to play and Arteta will be counting on him to do so again.
Ethan Nwaneri, the 17-year-old could also get minutes on the pitch according to the match situation. Zinchenko could fill in for Left Back as he is adept at moving infield and creating an overload in Midfield. This strategy could work well against Spurs. Nevertheless, it is an uphill task for Mikel Arteta on Sunday. Do you believe Arsenal will pick up 3 points in the North London Derby? Let us know in the comments below.
