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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta provided injury updates on Kieran Tierney, Leandro Trossard, and Eddie Nketiah. He spoke ahead of the UEFA Europa League round of 16 away clash against Sporting CP on 9 March.
Trossard suffered a groin injury during the Premier League home clash against Bournemouth on 4 March. He was replaced by Emile Smith-Rowe during the first half.
Nketiah has been sidelined with a knee injury. Tierney took part in the open training session at the London Colney ground.
Speaking about the three players, Mikel Arteta said ahead of the match (via football.london):
"Let’s see how they evolve. We’re trying to accommodate everybody and get them in the best position for tomorrow."
Trossard has proven to be influential since his January move from Brighton & Hove Albion. He has scored one goal and has provided two assists since joining the Gunners.
Tierney has been used as a fringe player this season. While the left-back has made 26 appearances, 13 of those have been from the start of a match. The Scottish star has lost his place as the first-choice player in his position to Oleksandr Zinchenko.
Nketiah, meanwhile, has deputized fairly well in Gabriel Jesus' absence due to injury. He has scored nine goals and provided two assists in 32 matches.
Whether Arteta decides to start any of these players against Sporting CP remains to be seen.
Mikel Arteta spoke about his team's rotation
Given that Arsenal are engaged in a closely contested Premier League title race, Mikel Arteta might look to rotate his side for the clash against Sporting CP.
Speaking ahead of the clash against Sporting , Arteta told the media:
"Because we have one team and we have to play the games with the best possible players to win it. There have been moments where we have made eight changes. We try to accommodate. Players have moments throughout the season, players are available and not available throughout the season. For sure, we will try to put the best team to win the game."
He further added:
"Yeah, of course everyone wants to play. It’s true as well when we’ve wanted to rotate players, they’ve been injured and unavailable. Tomorrow, that may be the case. Sometimes it’s been difficult and players have to deserve to play the minutes. Being fair in football is very difficult.
"You have to be really good at communicating your decisions to help players understand what you do, but all the time you have to think for the best of the team. We want everybody to feel important and we are going to try to make them feel like that."
Fans will keep a keen eye on the team Mikel Arteta fields in Portugal tomorrow night. They enter the Europa League contest on the back of an enthralling 3-2 Premier League win against Bournemouth.
