Arsenal
Arsenal

Arsenal suffered a major setback against Sporting Lisbon when two of their defenders were forced off injured in the first half. Ben White replaced Takehiro Tomiyasu, who was forced off after appearing to overstretch in a tackle. Mikel Arteta’s day got even worse when star center-back William Saliba had to be replaced.

While Rob Holding took his place, Arsenal fans are concerned that the injuries will jeopardise the club’s title bid. The Gunners are well placed atop of the Premier League table, with a five point lead over reigning champions Manchester City. Frenchman Saliba has been a solid rock at the heart of Arteta’s defense, which could now suffer if the defender is ruled out for a long time.

Arsenal
Arsenal suffered a double blow against Sporting as two of their defenders Takehiro Tomiyasu and William Saliba went-off injured inside the first 20 minutes. Credits: Twitter

Fans worried over Arsenal duo’s injuries as Ten Hag angle emerges

Arsenal crashed out of the Europa League from the round of 16 as Sporting triumphed on penalties. As the aggregate score was locked at 2-2 from the first leg in Lisbon, the Gunners did race to a lead through Granit Xhaka in the second leg at the Emirates. However, it was cancelled by a superb Pedro Goncalves strike from the halfway line which beat Aaron Ramsdale who was caught off-guard.

The extra-time too couldn’t separate the two teams, but the penalty shootout did send Arsenal out who missed a spot-kick with Sporting scoring all of theirs. However, fans were more worried about the injuries to Saliba and Tomiyasu, which could prove to be a bigger loss as far as their Premier League title hopes are concerned. The fans took to Twitter to raise their concerns:

Moreover, some fans even accused Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag of ‘bewitching’ their team following his comments about the Gunners’ lack of injuries. Ten Hag compared his team’s injury record to Arsenal’s ahead of United’s visit to Real Betis, revealing that he has only had a fully fit squad once this season. The Dutchman had said:

“Man City home [2-1 victory in January], it was the only time this season [that United had a fully fit squad], in other times, every time, every game is a player suspended, injured, illness. So we have to deal with it well, of course, you hope. I see Arsenal, they almost have all the time a squad that is totally available.”

Ten Hag’s comments haven’t been well received by Arsenal fans, as they lashed out at the united boss.