Mikel Arteta is hopeful that the North London Derby will go ahead this weekend, but he publicly expressed some doubt that it actually will. The Arsenal manager is simply lacking bodies to fill out his team sheet right now.
Down to ten men on the pitch, and having just 12 available outfield players, they nevertheless played Liverpool to a goalless draw in the first leg of their League Cup semifinal showdown tonight at Anfield.
North London Derby FYIs
Kickoff: Sunday, Jan 16, 4:30pm, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Team News: Arsenal Tottenham
Starting XI Prediction: Arsenal Tottenham
Google Result Probability: Arsenal 32% Tottenham 40% Draw 28%
Form Guide: Arsenal LWWWW Tottenham WDWDW
“[Postponement] is a possibility in every game, from our side and the opponents’ side with the issues everyone is having,” Arteta said.
“And it is happening every week, but we try to prepare the game thinking we will play. We came here and we were missing nine or 10 players. We don’t know what to expect the next day so we cannot be looking at that.
“We cannot use it as an excuse. We have to play games, it is our job and it can change to be in a more difficult position. But we have players I decided to play and we will try to do the same on Sunday.”
Arsenal Team News
The league’s rules state that a team must fulfil the fixtures if they have 14 players (13 outfield and a goalkeeper) available. Granit Xhaka drew a red card today, so he’s automatically out on the weekend.
Sticking in the midfield, Martin Odegaard returned a positive COVID test just before kickoff, so he must now isolate for a few days.
Meanwhile Cedric Soares and Bukayo Saka both limped off injured at Anfield on Thursday. If Spurs win, they would leapfrog their bitterest of rivals into fifth place, and retain the two games in hand on them.
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