Arsenal have embarked upon a period of rigorous fixture congestion with the win over Leicester beginning a 23-day run where the Gunners face seven matches. Mikel Arteta has not made major changes to the starting eleven which sees them get the opportunity to move five points clear on Wednesday with a win over Everton.
However, with the return of European football, the Spaniard may be minded to utilise the wider variety of options available to him. Arsenal’s youth under-21s youth side included both Jakub Kiwior and Emile Smith Rowe and Arteta was very happy with their contributions.
“Really good,” he replied when football.london asked how he analysed their performances. “Obviously they needed some minutes and at the moment they haven’t had much exposure for different situations. It was great to see them on the field because we’re going to need them in the next couple of games.”
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Interesting to note how much emphasis Arteta put on how much he might need them in the next few games. Gabriel Magalhães and Gabriel Martinelli look almost certain to be the starters for the Premier League games but perhaps the Arsenal boss was referring more so to the Europa League games against Sporting CP.
One player who has not been in the frame for starts at all has been Kieran Tierney. The Scot has been linked with a move away and Newcastle United are said to be a club interested in the left-back.
football.london asked Arteta whether the lack of game time added any pressure on the potential summer exit of Tierney he dismissed that he was even thinking about it. However, he did again promise that rotation will feature in the next couple of games.
“I don’t know, I’m not thinking about it, I’m thinking about what’s best for the team and obviously and the players with the right to play minutes which they all deserve and we’re going to try to do that in the next couple of games.”
This implies that perhaps we could see some players who have not been as used in the past few Premier League games employed against Everton and Bournemouth. Four of Arsenal’s next five league games are at home, with the games at the Emirates being against opposition all in the bottom half providing an opportunity to put a significant run together.
Adding a layer of unpredictability to the side also comes with rotation and perhaps it will give both Sean Dyche and Gary O’Neil a tougher task to set up and prepare their sides. That said, even without significant rotation Arsenal have been very difficult to stop.
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