Bukayo Saka has hinted that two key Arsenal stars could be dropped for the major Premier League title clash against Manchester City. Following three successive draws, Mikel Arteta has been urged by many to make necessary changes to his team in order to keep the Gunners' title hopes alive.
For the clash against Southampton last Friday, Arteta was forced into one change with Fabio Vieira coming in for Granit Xhaka who missed the game with illness. The Switzerland international's fitness was a key topic of discussion in Arteta's press conference on Tuesday, with the Spaniard's answer not providing much clarity.
"Granit has been out," Arteta said. "Hopefully, he’ll be able to train today but he’s still a doubt." The likelihood of a return for Xhaka was mostly unknown, but he was spotted arriving with the squad which hints at a matchday squad involvement.
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Elsewhere, regarding team news, William Saliba looks set to miss the crucial clash with his ongoing back injury. Internally, it had been claimed by some there was hope he would make Wednesday's game, but Arteta's update provided little hope.
Arteta said: "There’s not been a real improvement unfortunately on him, so we’re still waiting. We’re still hopeful, but another week has gone by and he hasn’t been able to train with the team.
"At the moment we don’t have him. We are preparing the game without him and probably the next game will come too soon as well. We have to go week by week at the moment."
His absence likely means Rob Holding will remain in the team, although both he and Oleksandr Zinchenko have come under significant fire for their recent displays with the latter blamed for a key role in the three goals scored by Southampton. Mass changes being made seems unlikely with Arteta often keeping his first XI the same barring any of key stars being out with injuries.
Exactly what team Arteta will choose to deploy is not clear, but Saka may have hinted at two notable omissions. According to FPLFocal on twitter, on the account widely considered to be Saka's Fantasy Premier League team, the Arsenal winger chose to transfer in Marcus Rashford for Gabriel Martinelli and leave Zinchenko on his bench.
Players often know the starting team the day before the game and with Martinelli and Zinchenko left out of Saka's team, that could mean both are missing from the line-up chosen by Arteta. It is also possible the 21-year-old chose to not include the duo as facing Manchester City away from home is considered to be the hardest fixture in FPL and points are difficult to come by.
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