Mikel Arteta has explained why he has dropped Gabriel Martinelli, Thomas Partey and Rob Holding from Arsenal's starting line-up that will face Chelsea tonight. The Gunners are looking to return to the top of the Premier League table with a win at the Emirates Stadium.
The Blues come into the game without a win in their last five games under Frank Lampard and face a huge task trying to stop Arsenal from taking all three points tonight. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was handed a shock start against his former side tonight, but Arteta has made some big decisions with his own team selection.
Partey and Holding have come under criticism in recent weeks for their performances after Arsenal have not won in their last four fixtures. Manchester City moved above the Gunners in the race for the Premier League title after beating Fulham at the weekend following their 4-1 win against Arteta's side at the Etihad Stadium less than a week ago.
READ MORE: Arsenal vs Chelsea LIVE: Confirmed line-ups as Aubameyang starts, Holding and Martinelli dropped
All three of Arsenal's January signings - Leandro Trossard, Jorginho and Jakub Kiwior - have been brought into the team to face Lampard's side tonight. Speaking to Sky Sports, the Arsenal boss explained: "There are players that deserve to play minutes and that is Leo for sure, for the performances he’s had.
"We’ve been winning games with him and he’s been knocking on the door every week. For sure he [Jorginho] is prepared, for sure he gives us something very different to Thomas [Partey] and hopefully he can dictate the game the way he wants.
"We have to change things. We were conceding too many goals," Arteta continued when asked why Kiwior starts ahead of Holding.
"We have to shake it up, we have to give other people opportunities that they fully deserve, and today was the day to that in my opinion," he added. Arsenal have conceded 11 goals in their last four Premier League fixtures, failing to win any of those games as they lost valuable ground in the Premier League title race.
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