Ahead of the game against Brentford, the Gunners’ manager Mikel Arteta provided a squad update.
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Arsenal have a tricky away game awaiting them in the Premier League against Brentford this weekend. It is never easy to play them and it becomes even more challenging to face them in their own backyard. With a lot riding on this match, it is important for the Gunners to get the maximum points from this fixture to maintain their title charge. With Manchester City and Liverpool playing each other earlier on Saturday, some points will be dropped between them.
Hence, it will be a great opportunity for Arsenal to take advantage of one or both of the other title challengers dropping points from that earlier Premier League fixture. Ahead of the game against Brentford, the Gunners’ manager Mikel Arteta provided a squad update. The manager was asked if Martin Odegaard would be available for this contest. Arteta, quoted by Arsenal.com, replied on Friday, “Hopefully, yes. We have another training session today but he’s been progressing well and hopefully he will be available.”
Asked about the concussion protocols with Odegaard, he said, “Yes, because we didn’t know how many days [he’d be out for]. It depends on certain things and at the end he got more delayed than we wanted. But we have to protect the player.” Asked about Gabriel Jesus’ fitness, the manager replied, “He’s available. He played 96 minutes in a really competitive match. We have another session. They had a long flight and I have to see the condition of every single player to make the final call on the lineup.” Finally on Ben White, Arteta said, “Again, hopefully if he’s available to train today, he will be available to play. It’s a question mark to be resolved in the next few hours.”
The game against Brentford on Saturday will be Arteta’s 200th game as Arsenal manager. He replied, “I’m really proud to reach that number. At a big club, it’s always difficult – you have to win a lot of games. Hopefully a lot more positive things will come.” On his favourite among the 200 games, the manager said, “The first one because it was a special moment to have the possibility to become the Arsenal manager. For me it was a dream come true and, looking back to that first game, it’s really special.”
Arteta then spoke about his pride in staying with the Gunners for so long, a journey that started in December 2019. He also thanked the people who helped him get where he is currently. “I’m very proud, I’m very grateful. So many people around have contributed in a massive way to be here almost for four years, so a big thank-you to all of them because they’ve been instrumental to believe in me through the difficult moments, to inspire me, to make me better, to give me support and so much joy every single day to be working with them,” he stated.
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