Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta confirmed several of his players were battling 'tummy problems' in their clash against Wolves on Saturday. football.london understands that the illness came from a bug passed around the camp, rather than anything stemming from the pre-match meal, which was initially believed to be the cause of the problem.
It came as the Gunners looked to move five points clear at the top after Manchester City lost to Brentford earlier in the day, though that was far from an easy task. A difficult first half saw the game level at the break, but captain Martin Odegaard managed to score a brace in the second half to earn all three points.
"It’s great to be where we are and we are enjoying that moment," the Spaniard said on his team's position. "Now we have a big break and we have to reflect on what we’re doing and be prepared for after the World Cup. Our aim is to play better as a team every day, to have better tools to do what we want to do. I can say it’s been phenomenal to work with these players and staff."
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While Arsenal battled against a tough Wolves side, they had more on their hands than just that after midfielder Granit Xhaka signalled an issue in the first half. Fabio Vieira replaced him after just 16 minutes, but Arteta confirmed it was down to illness that several players were battling at the time.
He told reporters after the game: "He’s fine. He wasn’t feeling good and for Granit to put his hand up and say I’m not feeling good [is a lot]. We had a few boys with some tummy issues and obviously we cannot change three or four in the first half, but I’m delighted that we adapted to those circumstances and managed to win the game."
While that only added to the difficulty of the task ahead, the manager initially claimed that it stemmed from the pre-match meal some had, adding: "[The illnesses were] Not overnight. I think it was after the pre-match meal. I didn’t even know about it, but the doc was trying to get some players sorted because they weren’t feeling good."
While plenty will point to the pre-match meal as the source of the illness, football.london understands that the illness was spread around the camp prior to the game, rather than any issues from the meal itself.
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