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Arsenal will play Manchester United away on December 2. This follows a 2-0 victory at the Emirates against Newcastle United.
In the wake of the comfortable win, Joe Willock, who started for the Magpies, received warm applause from the home fans. But it is another Hale End graduate whose fitness Arsenal will be sweating over after Bukayo Saka limped out of the game.
At only 20, Saka is the star in the Arsenal team. He has produced several gargantuan performances to ensure that Arsenal have put their disastrous start to the season behind them.
The Gunners are now fifth on the log, level on 23 points with their London counterparts, West Ham.
Mikel Arteta faced the press on Wednesday morning over his media obligations before the trip to Manchester United.
Regarding Saka's injury, Arteta said:
"I am hopeful but we don’t know. It’s a really short turnaround. THe player has to be comfortable playing with a little injury. Granit is still not ready. Kolasinac is still not ready. We have a doubt with Bukayo and a few other knocks we had from Newcastle. I am hopeful [for Bukayo] but we don't know."
Arteta was also quizzed on his decision to stick with Nuno Tavares ahead of Tierney for the Newcastle clash, following Tavares' calamitous display in a humbling 4-0 defeat at Liverpool on November 20.
On the fateful afternoon, a raucous Anfield crowd got the better of some young guns, with both Tavares and Sambi Lokonga unable to steady their nerves. But it was the young full-back who had a day to forget after gifting Diogo Jota the ball to score Liverpool's second.
On Tavares, Arteta said:
"It was a tricky one after what happened in Anfield and some individual errors that we had we have to be careful with the messages that we send. I encourage my players to take risks and if they make mistakes you have to show confidence.
He added:
"Kieran hasn’t played in a lot of games because he was injured and in others because when Nuno came in I thought he deserved to be there."
There is also a move for a striker brewing at Arsenal. The Gunners have been tipped to bring in a new elite striker in the January window to replace Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah, who are both expected to leave this winter.
Aubameyang has struggled since last season and following a terrible miss in the Newcastle game with the keeper well-beaten, there have been heightened calls to replace the former Borussia Dortmund striker with an upgrade.
On January signings, the Arsenal boss said:
"We are in discussions. We have talks every week about it. What happens in the January window can affect our squad. As you know we have certain players with uncertainty in the summer so we have to plan now and the summer. We don’t expect big things happening but we have to be very alert and prepared in the market."
Arteta added regarding Auba:
"Well, the form of Auba is always going to be related to how he scores. He’s doing a lot of other things but obviously we need that contribution. That has to be his aim."
Arsenal manager reacts to the Gabriel robbery incident and Ralf Rangnick's appointment at Manchester UNited
Arteta also revealed that Gabriel Magalhaes was fine after he was targeted by robbers. We reported how Gabriel fought off armed robbers following a chilling home invasion caught on camera.
"It's not a nice thing to go through when you have family involved. Gabi showed a lot of character. Credit to the boy. After that he was fine, obviously he was shocked. The club have given him the support to try and move on from the situation."
The Red Devils announced Ralf Rangnick as their new manager on Monday. The German will not however be on the touchline due to work permit issues. Consequently, Michael Carrick is set to extend his game tally at the helm to three.
Arteta commented on Rangnick's appointment but, unlike Klopp, didn't go into too much detail.
The Arsenal manager told the press:
"He's been one of the top coaches. He's made some radical changes in some areas and is a really interesting person in the football world and a really interesting appointment for the football club."
Arsenal will hope to exploit any uncertainty regarding the managerial situation at Old Trafford to kick-start a mini resurgency of their own.
