Arsenal don’t have much to play for in the Premier League any more, so the rest of this season will purely be used to build up for the FA Cup final.
Mikel Arteta has shown his ability to set his team up to counter serious attacking threats, but today’s game against Aston Villa will require a totally different approach.
There’s an argument to be made that he should put out his team for the final and allow them to gel and get sharp for the final two games, but he might want to rest them and avoid needless injuries too.
With that in mind, here’s how they line up this evening:
? Tonight's team news…
?? @LTorreira34 starts
??????? @EddieNketiah9 returns
??????? @RobHolding95 also starts#?? #AVLARS
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) July 21, 2020
It looks like he’s decided to give some the fringe players a chance, so it’s very possible that they are playing for their place in the squad next season.
You could understand it if the fans were annoyed at the weakened team, but it seems Arteta is in the good books and plenty are praising him for resting a few players:
https://twitter.com/AFC_Kierann/status/1285641213111148544
https://twitter.com/jaaamesp/status/1285641378450546688
Delighted Xhaka gets a well deserved break, as does Tierney.
Thought Auba could have used one too, but chasing golden boot and all…
Surely curtains for Sokratis at this club. Wonder what he did.. was he the fuck who injured Martinelli?
— Lacompactdisc (@Lacompactdisc) July 21, 2020
I think he wanted to rest key players like xhaka and tierney
— Mazz Gunner afc (@officialgooner1) July 21, 2020
https://twitter.com/shuristan/status/1285640593318842368
https://twitter.com/MichaelKeshani/status/1285640482270347266
They might not be so happy if they fail to win, but the FA Cup is the priority and keeping their key players fit and rested could be the key to winning it.