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Arsenal fans were surprised to see American shot-stopper Matt Turner miss out on their UEFA Europa League clash against PSV Eindhoven on Thursday (27 October).
The Gunners are set to take on the Dutch club in an important away clash in the Europa League. Mikel Arteta's side currently sit at the top of Group A with 12 points from four games.
Turner, who joined the north London-based club at the start of the season from the New England Revolution for £5.73 million, played in all four of the team's Europa league clashes.
However, he won't be part of the team to face PSV as the club's first-choice goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale started between the sticks for Arteta's side.
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Opportunities are hard to come by for Turner as the American only gets opportunities in the Europa League.
Fans believe it was cruel for the American to miss out on the starting lineup for the game against PSV with a groin issue.
Here are some of the best reactions from Arsenal fans across Twitter after Matt Turner wasn't named in the first XI:
The Gunners have already qualified for the knockout stages of the competition. However, a win against PSV will secure their status as the group winners.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta emphasized the importance of finishing at the top of their group
Ahead of his team's clash against PSV Eindhoven, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said that his team doesn't have the depth to rotate all of his players for the Europa League games. Hence, more often than not, he names a strong XI for the competition's matches.
Arteta said (via arsenal.com):
"We don’t have that many players! We bring the players that we have and we have brought four kids with us so we cannot even make up the squad. But we need to put 11 players out and they need to play. We cannot change those 11 players every game."
The Europa League is set to get more interesting as European giants like Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Juventus have dropped out of the UEFA Champions League and will take part in the playoff fixtures.
Hence, it's better for any team to win their group so they can avoid a tough opponent in the next round of matches. Arteta agreed to the notion, saying:
"This competition is getting harder and harder and how it looks today and what the possibilities are, it looks like the next round will be extremely competitive. That’s why finishing first in the group and avoiding another two games is such an important thing for us."
