I saw what Mikel Arteta did before kick-off vs Liverpool - I loved his mind games
Former Arsenal winger Jermaine Pennant says he believes Mikel Arteta’s coy comments about injuries leading up to Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Liverpool paid off.
Jurrien Timber and Bukayo Saka were nursing problems prior to the contest and were left out of open training on Friday. Arteta gave nothing away in his pre-match press conference when asked for updates on the pair, giving limited detail.
He outlined: "We’re going to do our very best to somehow have them available," he said. "It’s very, very uncertain."
"[Timber] has been out a while. We thought he would be further ahead. Saka? He’s done a bit of training on the grass. How far we can get him before Sunday is another question. We will see."
Both Timber and Saka were subsequently named in the starting XI 75 minutes before kick-off against Liverpool, although the former was forced off in the second half while fellow defender Riccardo Calafiori was not able to recover from a knee injury to make the squad.
Saka scored his fourth goal of the season after nine minutes as the Gunners earned a point and carried on their streak of going unbeaten against the ‘big six’ teams since April 2023. Former Arsenal winger Pennant says Arteta was well within his rights to not divulge any detailed information on said injuries pre-game.
“I think in these big games you would do anything necessary to get one over on the opposition, especially a team like Liverpool or Man City,” he told football.london. “You do absolutely the utmost things to try and get an edge going into the game.
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“So, yeah, I'm all for it. I'm all for different tactics, mind games and all that - because if it pays off, fantastic."
Arteta now has a new defensive injury concern with Gabriel Magalhaes having to exit Sunday’s game early with a leg issue. He was later seen in a leg compression sleeve with it not yet clear how severe his setback is.
Pennant said any lengthy layoff for Gabriel would come as a “massive blow” for Arsenal. “The partnership him and [William] Saliba have formed is absolutely fantastic. We know how important Gabriel is on set-pieces as well.
“He’s scored two goals already from set-piece plays so they’d lose that and that partnership with Saliba. When you’re losing key players like that, it’s going to have some sort of impact.”
Pennant refuted the idea that Arteta would come under pressure if Arsenal - who play Preston North End in Wednesday’s last-16 League Cup tie - do not win a trophy this season. However, he warned Arsenal “don't want to be a Spurs and don't win anything”.
Jermaine Pennant was speaking to football.london courtesy of Casino Apps.