Mikel Arteta is hoping to use the November international break to regroup his Arsenal squad following a bruising start to the Premier League season, with their title hopes faltering
Arsenal head into the November international break looking to regroup after a bruising start to the season.
Having started the campaign with hopes of ending a 20-year title drought, Mikel Arteta’s men sit fourth in the Premier League, nine points adrift of leaders Liverpool. A series of injuries to star players have dented their ambitions and two more names have been added to the list.
Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka have been forced to pull out of the England squad due to injury issues. The duo were among nine players called out by Three Lions skipper Harry Kane for withdrawing from international duty.
But they have now been defended by club legend Paul Merson amid the mounting criticism. Here, Mirror Football rounds up all the latest Arsenal news.
Gunners duo defended
Paul Merson has defended Arsenal stars Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice after they were among those criticised by England captain Harry Kane for pulling out of international duty. Kane issued a scolding rebuke of those who have withdrawn from this week’s games on Wednesday night.
“I can understand that but at the same time Rice wasn’t fit, Saka came off with about 10, 15 minutes to go in probably a must-win game for Arsenal [against Chelsea ] at the time,” he told Sky Sports.
“I’ll go with the players on this one, but again, this is a big football match. We need to win this football match to get back to the big table with the big nations because otherwise we’re going to play these countries again and that’s when you get withdrawals at the same time.”
Read Merson’s full thoughts.
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Arteta sent title warning
Mikel Arteta has been warned Arsenal could be about to take a step back in the title race. The Gunners finished second last season, but Jamie Carragher has insisted that means nothing in the current campaign.
“[Arsenal] reminds me of what happened when I was at Liverpool. You’d have a season where you come second, have a really good points total, and everyone automatically thinks the next thing is to do that [finish first],” he told the Stick to Football podcast.
“One season under Gérard Houllier we lost out to Arsenal for the league, and the next season we finished fourth or fifth. It [winning the league] doesn’t naturally happen just because Arsenal finished second. Sometimes, it can go the other way.”
Read the latest on Arsenal’s title hopes.
Newcastle’s Isak stance
Newcastle are confident of keeping hold of Alexander Isak, with the striker being heavily linked with a move to Arsenal. The Gunners are keen to sign a new striker as their title challenge falters.
Isak is a leading target, having long been linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium. But according to ChronicleLive, Newcastle chiefs are ‘relaxed’ over Isak’s future and are not sweating on any imminent exit.
The long-term plan remains to hand him a new deal and build a team around the striker. The club see Isak as the future number 9 on Tyneside and they believe he has a genuine chance of beating Alan Shearer’s club record of 206 goals if he stays.
Read the latest on Isak’s future.
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