As Arsenal heads into the weekend, sitting in fifth place as Premier League match day 11 approaches, all the news is swirling around team captain Granit Xhaka, the abuse he received from his own fan base and his outburst in response to it.
At his weekly news conference today, ahead of tomorrow’s match against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Arsenal manager Unai Emery said that he would sit his skipper in the fixture against Wolves. He did not say what would become of the midfielder’s status at captain.
“I think that tomorrow, he is not going to play,” Emery said. “Because I think that now, we need to be focused on the match at 100 per cent. Now we are going to train but at the moment, he’s not in my mind.”
Xhaka has apologized for and explained his actions, but there is a lot of debate out there right now about who was to blame for the altercation and, if you believe both sides were to blame, who was more in the wrong. The future of the Switzerland international at Arsenal FC is certainly up in the air right now.
“Xhaka’s issues last week is one issue that needs time,” Emery said.
“He needs time to recover the normality in him. He said sorry. He gave apologies to the supporters and everybody. Now is the focus on tomorrow’s match.”
The only other certain Gunners absentee for tomorrow is Reiss Nelson. Flipping over to the visitors, Morgan Gibbs-White (back) is a doubt while Willy Boly (calf, unknown) is out.
Wolverhampton Wanderers at Arsenal FC FYIs
Kickoff: Saturday Nov 2, 4 BST, Emirates Stadium
Arsenal FC Starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Google Result Probability: Arsenal FC 53%, Draw 25%, Wolverhampton Wanderers 22%
Form Guide: Wolverhampton Wanderers- DDWWD Arsenal- DLWDW
Prediction: Arsenal 3, Wolves 1
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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