Honestly, these predicted line ups had become pretty perfunctory affairs over the past few weeks. With such a small squad so many players performing to a high level, the Arsenal squad largely picked itself save for a dilemma between Emile Smith Rowe and Gabriel Martinelli. In the space of a few hours though, that has all changed.
The Gunners have now been deprived of two of their most important players due to long term injuries. Kieran Tierney will be out for the rest of the season while the early prognosis on Thomas Partey is not much better. "He could be," Mikel Arteta said when asked in his pre-match press conference if the Ghanaian might be absent for the rest of the campaign. "But, he it could not be the case because it’s an area where he had a previous injury as well and he felt it straight away. He’s not fit."
There is slightly better news on Takehiro Tomiyasu, who is hoping to return to training on April 16th ahead of crucial clashes with Manchester United and Chelsea. However, with three of his first choice line up out, there are suddenly a whole host of selection headaches that Arteta has to contend with.
