Mikel Arteta has been handed a critical injury blow as Emile Smith Rowe was left out of the England under-21s squad for their clash with Croatia.
Aidy Boothroyd confirmed in his pre-match press conference that the youngster was a doubt ahead of the crucial clash when talking about whether he could start.
However, the £11.7m-rated Croydon-born youngster missed out altogether in what is a cruel blow to the Gunners ahead of their Premier League match with Liverpool.
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With Mikel Arteta’s men entering a big part of their season, the last thing they would have wanted was an injury to one of their starters. Ever since the outing versus Chelsea, the youngster has been a big part of the Gunners side, featuring in every league and Europa League clash bar the 1-1 draw away to Burnley.
His high energy pressing and overall attacking ability on the ball will be a miss for a side that have become so accustomed to playing with the youngster in the team. His link-up play with Kieran Tierney during the fixture against Tottenham Hotspur showed off his staggering ability on the left-flank.
In his absence, you’d imagine Arteta would turn back to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who has looked like a squad peg in a round hole when asked to play down the left this season.
With the 20-year-old having a less than impressive injury record, you fear the worst whenever he is out with an issue. Arsenal will be hoping the youngster returns sooner rather than later as the club chase a Champions League football.#
In other news, Arsenal made it to sixth in a Premier League list after making 55 redundancies.
