Mikel Arteta failed to heed Chris Sutton’s warning before Arsenal vs Sporting Lisbon
Arsenal were hit by a double whammy during their Europa League clash with Sporting Lisbon, despite a strong warning given to Mikel Arteta ahead of the tie at Emirates Stadium
Mikel Arteta was forced to regret his luck after ignoring a strong warning from Chris Sutton as Arsenal were hit by two serious injury blows against Sporting Lisbon.
The north London side have named a very strong starting XI who will take on the Portuguese side at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday night. After the 2-2 draw in the first leg, Arteta has certainly stated his intention not to leave the game to chance.
He may have regretted that decision very quickly as the Gunners were hit by two serious injury strikes against Sporting. First, Japan international Takehiro Tomiyasu was withdrawn after throwing himself into a tackle.
In the middle of the first leg, William Saliba had to be substituted. Arteta can’t say he wasn’t warned a situation could hit the Gunners.
Former Premier League striker Sutton previously suggested that while the Spaniard’s commitment to the Europa League is admirable, it could come back to bite the Gunners in their bid for the Premier League title.
Speaking to the BBC, the former Blackburn and Chelsea shooter said: “Way in Lisbon, er [Arteta] started Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli. If you’re an Arsenal fan you’ll say that lifting two trophies is great, but Arsenal are in such an impressive position in the league that when one of them gets injured they’re tremendous players.
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“We know how to prioritize but who expected Arsenal to be in this position at this point? Nobody expected it, the fans, players or Mikel Arteta certainly didn’t expect it.”
“Although I take my hat off to them for being strong in the Europa League, imagine if there’s a risk of someone getting injured. I’m all for managers trying full force to win all four competitions . But Arsenal can dominate that.” league for years. I don’t necessarily think they will, even though this is a one-off season where they’re almost over the line in the league.
Arteta will be hoping he won’t be without Takehiro or Saliba for the foreseeable future. The latter has become a key cog for the north London side after the start of every Premier League game this season.
The Japanese right-back hasn’t been so much an automatic starter this season as he found himself behind Ben White, who was moved from his more conventional centre-back position. Before the clash with Sporting, Arteta explained why he chose such a strong team.
He said: “We always said at the beginning of the season that we would approach every competition on a daily basis. The fact that you start in a competition does not mean that you will continue [to start].
“I think we’ve been very consistent in that regard. Today we picked the best team, which we think is the best to start because it’s going to be a long game.”