Arsenal secured a win in their Premier League opener against Newcastle Utd last weekend, and they’ll hope to follow it up with three points against Burnley on Saturday.
Sean Dyche’s men visit the Emirates looking to secure a positive result, but Unai Emery will be desperate to see his side build some early momentum and register back-to-back wins.
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Time will tell who is able to come out on top in north London, but the Spanish tactician does have decisions to make.
Summer signings Dani Ceballos, David Luiz, Gabriel Martinelli and Nicolas Pepe were all left on the bench at St James’ Park, although all-but Luiz managed to get onto the pitch and get their first taste of Premier League football.
It was quite the bench for the Gunners considering Alexandre Lacazette and Lucas Torreira also watched on from the sidelines, and so Emery certainly has quality and depth at his disposal this season which will lead to some interesting decisions this weekend.
Speaking to the media on Thursday, the Arsenal boss conceded that he will make a call on Pepe on Friday as to whether or not he will be named in his starting XI against Burnley, with many fans arguably excited about the prospect of seeing the winger play alongside Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in an attacking trident.
“I am going to decide tomorrow,” Emery told the media on Thursday, as quoted by The Express. “It depends how they will be tomorrow in the training. Pepe is training with us, improving with us, knowing us.
“He’s understanding our style little by little and physically getting better. He is more close to helping us at the beginning [of the match].”
Emery wasn’t afraid to rotate and make changes on a game-by-game last season, and so it will be down to players like Pepe to impress when given an opportunity and cement his place in the starting XI.
Considering Arsenal splashed out a whopping £72m to sign him this summer, which made him the club’s record signing as per BBC Sport, they’ll certainly hope Emery uses him and helps him flourish.
