It’s the shock that everyone in England is waiting for. Arsenal’s defeat last week at home against Bournemouth, coupled with Manchester City’s great success on Chelsea’s pitch, revived this end of the Premier League. The Gunners are only six points ahead at the top of the championship, and one more match played (Manchester City-Crystal Palace moved due to the League Cup final has not yet been rescheduled, editor’s note) on the Skyblues before going to the Etihad Stadium this Sunday (5:30 p.m.).
You will have understood, it is purely mathematical. In the event of success against the leader, and in their late match, City would return to Arsenal with a significantly similar goal average (currently favorable to Arsenal with +38 against +35). Unthinkable just a few weeks ago, the English champion is still far from being chosen, to the great dismay of Londoners, still looking for a first title since the Invincibles of 2004, and to the delight of fans of other clubs, who would be particularly delighted to see this series continue a little.
Saka, Timber, Merino already out, Ødegaard very uncertain
Criticized for its frankly lackluster, even boring, play, as evidenced by this quarter-final second leg of the Champions League against Sporting CP (0-0), Arsenal has been struggling for several weeks. There was this defeat in the League Cup final against these same Cityzens, then the elimination in the quarter-final of the FA Cup against Southampton, a Championship club. The Gunners no longer have the same margin as this winter. The fault is also injuries, which logically occur in such a series of matches. 5 starters were missing on Wednesday evening and that could be the case again tomorrow, starting with Mikel Merino, who had foot surgery in January and almost missed out on this final sprint.
Bukayo Saka is still unavailable due to an Achilles tendon problem. His return before the end of the season is not assured at all, especially since the player will not rush things with the World Cup deadline. “His recovery is progressing. I hope it will be a matter of days and not weeksprayed Mikel Arteta at a press conference on Tuesday. However, he must see how he reacts to this progression when the workload increases.“. Problem, his natural replacement, Noni Madueke came out against Sporting, injured in the knee. Caution is required even if we are rather optimistic for him.
In terms of good news, Riccardo Calafiori could make his return to the group, he who received a severe blow depriving him of the last two matches. The Italian will have difficulty being 100%, however. On the other side of the defense, Jurrien Timber is still disabled, injured in the malleolus for a month. Finally, another important element stands out by his absence in recent weeks, it is Martin Ødegaard. Starting the first leg against the Liboètes after his knee injury, the club captain was again unavailable on the return, not completely recovered and the latest news is not reassuring. The Gunners will show up very weak on Sunday for what is much more than a simple match.
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