Full back Kieran Tierney was linked to Arsenal all summer long, but didn’t make the transfer from Celtic to Arsenal until the 11th hour of the window. Due to injury, the 22-year-old didn’t make his first appearance in an Arsenal shirt until last week’s rout of Nottingham Forest in the League Cup.
In other words, there has been a lot of anticipation and build-up preceding the left-back’s arrival on the pitch. He’ll see some time again in a cup competition, when Standard Liege visits the Emirates Stadium to battle Arsenal in Europa League action tomorrow.
During his news conference today, Gunners boss Unai Emery confirmed that Tierney, who sat out the 1-1 draw with Manchester United on Monday, will play.
“After his injuries, each step is important to be consistent,” Emery said.
“He didn’t play in Manchester because he had some more problems. Not important, but the doctor told us it’s better to be here working alone and preparing for the match tomorrow.
“If we are taking precaution with him it’s also important that, with the national team, we are thinking it’s not the moment to go with them.
“For the next matches, I think he’s going to be ready to play with us and to play with them.
“Now he’s going to play tomorrow and also hopefully he can be complete physically, complete tactically, with the performance we need.”
Having been relegated to the UEL three straight years, Arsenal are anxious to back to the big boy table. They came close last season, having gotten to the title game, where they fell to Chelsea and lost out on the automatic UCL bid.
Arsenal FC vs Standard Liege UEFA Europa League FYIs
Arsenal Team News, Starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Kickoff: Emirates Stadium, London, Thursday Oct 3, 8pm
TV: BT Sport 2
Referee: Sandro Schärer
Prediction: Arsenal 3, Standard Liege 0
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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