Arsenal are set to be without Ethan Nwaneri for a considerable chunk of time after the English forward suffered a muscular injury in the 1-1 draw with Brighton and Hove Albion. Arsenal head coach, Mikel Arteta, confirmed this in his press conference,
“It’s really bad news because I think we’ve lost him, we had to take him off at half-time with some muscular issues,”
Seeing a sick Gabriel Martinelli come on for Nwaneri was a surprise and that substitution sucked the life out of the attack, as Martinelli clearly wasn’t fit enough. Nwaneri had the energy and exuberance on the right and he took his goal well, latching onto a well-taken pass, bearing down on goal and placing it past Bart Verbruggen, even though the Dutch goalie could have done better.
Crystal Palace FC v Arsenal FC Gabriel Martinelli of Arsenal during the Crystal Palace FC v Arsenal FC English Premier League match at Selhurst Park, London, England, United Kingdom on 21 December 2024 Editorial use only. All images are copyright Every Second Media Limited. No images may be reproduced without prior permission. All rights reserved. Premier League and Football League images are subject to licensing agreements with Football DataCo Limited. see https://www.football-dataco.com Copyright: xIMAGO/EveryxSecondxMediax ESM-1263-0275
With the games coming thick and fast, Arteta will need to shuffle the pack as the Gunners lock horns with an in-form Newcastle United side in the Carabao Cup semifinals at the Emirates. However, Arsenal are desperately short staffed in attack and Arteta will be hopeful that Martinelli will be fit enough to start from the right against the Magpies. Martinelli played really well in the 3-1 win over Brentford and he will want to build on that.
Another option would be to move Kai Havertz to the center forward position with Gabriel Jesus playing from the right, but the Brazilian striker is in very good form, and Arsenal will need him firing from the center forward berth in the club’s bid for some silverware this season.
The post Ethan Nwaneri compounds Arsenal’s injury woes appeared first on Gooner Daily.
