Mikel Arteta has called up Arsenal’s highly regarded defender Lino Sousa for Thursday night’s Europa League clash with FC Zurich.
The Gunners, whose 100 per cent start to the Premier League season ended on Sunday, will now turn their attention to the start of their European campaign. Winning the tournament would guarantee a return to the Champions League, but it seems inevitable it won’t be at the top of the club’s list of priorities.
And with fixture congestion set to take hold between now and the break for the World Cup, Arteta will dip into his reserves for the lesser competitions. That will mean a number of fringe and youth players will be given a chance to impress in Switzerland.
Sousa promises to be one of those, with the Athletic reporting the 17-year-old will be part of the travelling party. Signed from West Bromwich Albion in January, there are high hopes for Sousa, who has been playing above his own age group for a number of years.
Following his move from the Black Country, he quickly established himself in Kevin Betsy’s Under-23 squad in the latter half of last season. He was then included as part of the squad which travelled to Germany in pre-season, before earning a place in Mehmet Ali’s Under-21 side.
“We always look at the players’ attributes, what they’re really good at and try to make their strengths super-strengths to help them stand out,” Ali explained earlier this month. “Lino is a player that is very comfortable on the ball and because of that we sometimes give him licence to come inside the pitch to get the ball to feet and then try and serve (the ball in) effective and dangerous areas.
“Also we want to show his ability to get forward and sometimes go on the outside to get crosses into the box. But most importantly, Lino needs to remember what his job is as a defender, which is stopping crosses, protecting the far post and winning his defensive duels.”
Along with this week’s opponents FC Zurich, Arsenal will lock horns with PSV Eindhoven, and Norwegian giant killers Bodo/Glimt, who embarrassed Jose Mourinho ’s Roma team last season. Arteta will be keen to get off to a quick start, which explains that while he looks set to give chances to youth, his big hitters will also make the trip.
All five summer signings are in the Spaniard’s squad, with Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Fabio Vieira, Marquinhos and Matt Turner all included. Vieira, Turner and Marquinhos could all make their competitive debuts, after Vieira’s return to fitness saw him come off the bench during Sunday’s 3-1 defeat at Manchester United.
Following the game in the Swiss city, Arteta’s youthful squad will travel back to England to face Everton on Sunday, before facing PSV and Brentford before the international break at the end of this month.
