Reiss Nelson made way for Thomas Partey as Arsenal beat Leicester City on Saturday afternoon and Mikel Arteta’s decision could be a sign of things to come for Gabriel Jesus
Mikel Arteta was able to welcome back Thomas Partey after a two-game absence against Leicester City and now the attention turns to when another Arsenal first-team player will be available for selection again.
After sitting out the Manchester City defeat and comeback win over Aston Villa, the aforementioned midfielder made his return as a second half substitute at the King Power Stadium, providing extra defensive security in the final 10 minutes to ensure the Gunners saw out their 1-0 lead to remain two points clear at the top of the Premier League table.
Taking into account that Jorginho was impressive at Villa Park a week ago, it wasn’t too much of a surprise that Arteta took a cautious approach with .
However, when the Arsenal team news was confirmed an hour before kick-off against the Foxes, there was no sign of Reiss Nelson in the starting line-up or on the substitutes bench as the Spaniard made one change to the matchday squad from the 4-2 win over Aston Villa.
Now, usually when a first-team player is absent, the north London outfit – via social media or their official website – will disclose a reason especially if it’s injury-related having done so, particularly with the likes of Partey and Oleksandr Zinchenko at various points this season.
The fact there was no explanation for Nelson not being included in the matchday squad all but confirms he was fit and available for selection – especially as he was present in Friday’s training session before the Leicester game having been spotted in the footage released by the club.
In reality, there’s not a lot to read into the 23-year-old’s absence as it was most likely a decision taken by Arteta when naming the travelling party, and it’s a trend the Spaniard is going to have to repeat in the coming weeks with injuries across the first-team squad beginning to clear up.
Of the 24 senior players at the Arsenal manager’s disposal following the deals completed in the January transfer window, only Jesus and Mohamed Elneny were definitely ruled out whilst Partey was doubtful with the muscular problem that had kept him out since the 1-1 draw at home to Brentford earlier in the month.
As things turned out, the aforementioned injured pair as well as third-choice goalkeeper Karl Hein were left out and as Arteta was once again permitted to name a 20-man matchday squad, as per Premier League rules, for the trip to the King Power Stadium, it meant he had to make a difficult decision on which other first team player to omit.
In the end, the Spaniard went for an extra midfield option on the bench by recalling Partey thus leaving Nelson as the unlucky fourth player to miss out against Leicester.
Interestingly, this could be a sign of things to come as one can safely assume that Jesus will earn an immediate recall to the Premier League matchday squad once he’s fit and available for selection in addition to no further injury setbacks across the Gunners’ first-team squad.
Taking into consideration that, when fit, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard and Eddie Nketiah are all options across the forward line, it could be that Nelson finds himself in a similar situation to Saturday afternoon more often than not between now and the end of the season.
