Mikel Arteta has a tough decision to make regarding his team selection when Arsenal welcome Southampton to the Emirates Stadium on Friday night, although he may have already provided a hint on his starting XI
It will be interesting to see the team Mikel Arteta picks when Arsenal welcome Southampton to the Emirates Stadium on Friday evening. The Gunners have dropped points in their previous two games, drawing 2-2 to both Liverpool and West Ham United.
"The likes of [Leandro] Trossard for example, who I think has been brilliant since he signed for Arsenal. He has his first XI in his mind and he wants to stay with them until the end because he thinks they have been unbelievable since the beginning of the season.
"He’s probably thinking, ‘why should I change them?’ Because they were winning game after game? I can understand, but in the meantime, as he’s such a young manager, maybe he has to learn as well from that."
So, will the Spaniard consider making changes to his starting XI for the clash against the Saints? Well, in his post match press conference on Sunday afternoon, the former Manchester City assistant coach was asked why his players looked fatigued at the end of the game.
"Fatigue-wise no because what we produced in the first half against Liverpool was similar and today we put a higher input in the second half than in the first half," he said. "We were slower in everything that we did, but I don’t think team is fatigued or looked fatigued.
"The best way to put it is to convince the team how good they are when they do what they have to do. This is what we have to do in our brains."
Whatever happens, players like Trossard, Jorginho, Emile Smith Rowe, Fabio Vieira and Eddie Nketiah will be ready to give their all if they are called upon.