Bacary Sagna has urged Mikel Arteta to keep Leandro Trossard on the bench for Arsenal’s huge Premier League clash against title rivals Manchester City.
Trossard moved to the Emirates in a £27m deal from Brighton in the January transfer window and impressed in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Brentford.
The Belgium international replaced Gabriel Martinelli on 62 minutes and got on the scoresheet just four minutes later to register a crucial goal in the title race.
Martinelli has started all of Arsenal’s 21 top-flight games this season but has failed to register a goal or assist across hist last five Premier League matches.
That has led to some calling for Trossard to replace Martinelli in the starting XI for Arsenal’s meeting against Pep Guardiola’s side on Wednesday with Emmanuel Petit and Shaka Hislop both telling boss Arteta to drop the Brazil international.
Former Gunners right-back Sagna, though, disagrees and feels Martinelli should continue to start ahead of Trossard.
‘I would still start Gabriel Martinelli for Arsenal in the first team,’ Sagna told Premier League Odds. ‘His skills, speed and finishing are a real treat to watch.
‘He will be a key solution to playing against Manchester City because their centre-backs are not the fastest. Arsenal need to use his speed and keep Leandro Trossard on the bench.’
Arsenal are currently three points ahead of second-placed City with a game in hand and Sagna is backing them to go on and win their first title since 2004.
‘I want to believe there’s enough experience and chemistry in the Arsenal squad to win the Premier League title,’ he added.
‘It’s the first time in a while that Arsenal have a good team bonding and connection with the coach.
‘The atmosphere at the stadium has been amazing from the start and I expect it to continue to the end. I don’t think Arsenal will crumble like Gary Neville said.
‘Arsenal can deal with the pressure, I remember when they played Manchester City last year and were the better team, but they lost. This time they will need to focus from the beginning to the end.’
Lee Mason punished by Howard Webb after Premier League ref at fault for Arsenal blunder
Lee Mason was at fault for Brentford’s offside equaliser against Arsenal being allowed to stand.
Premier League video assistant referee Lee Mason has been stood down for this weekend’s round of fixtures following his error in the match between Arsenal and Brentford. The official failed to spot that Christian Norgaard was offside in the build-up to Ivan Toney’s equaliser on Saturday.
The goal meant that Arsenal draw the match and allowed Manchester City to move within three points of them in the title race, ahead of their clash on Wednesday. The Gunners were understandably furious, with The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) apologising and investigating the incident that evening.
It emerged that Mason did not draw offside lines when reviewing the goal, failing to notice that Norgaard was battling to get back onside when a cross was delivered before teeing up Toney.
PGMOL chief Howard Webb called an emergency meeting at Stockley Park following the weekend of football that was littered with officiating errors – including Brighton seeing a goal wrongfully ruled out for offside – and appears to have come down hard on Mason.
The 51-year-old was not named on the appointments list for Premier League fixtures in the upcoming gameweek, which was announced on Tuesday. The decision to stand Mason down should take him out of the firing line whilst all eyes are on his decision-making, with Webb unhappy with the regularity of significant errors being made by his officials.
Neil Swarbrick, who was on VAR duty for the match between West Ham and Chelsea on Saturday, has also been stood down. He failed to intervene and award the Blues a penalty late on in the match after Tomas Soucek blocked a goal-bound shot from Conor Gallagher with his hand.
The apology from the PGMOL was issued to Arsenal and Brighton, though former Gunners star Kevin Campbell is disgusted that officials are even in a position where they should have to release statements. He furiously told Sky Sports: “For the head (Howard Webb) to come out and say that he’s forgotten the lines, it’s either one of two things, you don’t forget to draw the lines, that’s part of your job, so it’s either you’ve deliberately haven’t done it or you’ve forgotten.
“And if you’ve forgotten to do it, you’re not fit to do the job. That’s as far as I’m concerned, and that’s not because I’m an Arsenal fan, that should be across the board.” It remains to be seen when Mason is reinstated by Webb or if he is ordered to spend some time out of action.
SOURCE: metro.co.uk, express.co.uk
