ArsenalShorts 9th September Round Up

Saliba Faces Extended Absence

Turns out William Saliba is expected to miss about 4 weeks due to a grade 2 ankle sprain sustained during warm-up before the defeat at Liverpool. This probably rules him out through the October international break (October 6th – 14th ffs) and will probably miss around three or four Arsenal games, including Forest and Man City at home. Cristhian Mosquera stepped in (and up) at Anfield, and we also have Ben White, Jurrien Timber, and new loanee Piero Hincapié ready to cover.

Women’s Super League: Arsenal WSL Triumph

The Arsenal Women kicked off their WSL season with an emphatic 4-1 comeback win against London City Lionesses at the Emirates over the weekend.

Despite falling behind early through a Kosovare Asllani penalty, last season’s record signing Olivia Smith equalised with a screamer. Chloe Kelly, along with substitutes Beth Mead, Frida Maanum, and Stina Blackstenius, sealed the victory with the latter two netting in the final minutes.

The result showcased Arsenal’s depth and ambition in the women’s game following their second Champions League win.

Arsenal v Forest Shocker

In a noteworthy managerial update connected to Arsenal’s upcoming games, Nottingham Forest have sacked head coach Nuno Espírito Santo following tension with club’s dodgy owner Evangelos Marinakis and apparent disagreements over transfer strategy.

Intertoto Cup winner Ange Postecoglou has been appointed as Forest’s new head coach and his first match in charge will be at The Emirates this weekend (don’t forget it’s an early KO at 12:30pm)

Other Bits:

Ruthless Spain stuff Turkey with a Mikel Merino hat-trick. Mikel Merino starred for Spain in a dominant 6–0 victory over Turkey in a World Cup qualifier. He bagged a first-half double and capped an impressive hat-trick early in the second half with a spectacular long-range strike.

Merino has now scored six goals in his last six appearances for Spain.

MLS News:

England Manager; Thomas Tuchel has left Myles Lewis-Skelly out of his matchday squad for the World Cup qualifier in Serbia tonight.

Skelly played the full 90 minutes in England’s 2–0 win over Andorra and his surprise omission provides the youngster with a welcome rest ahead of our Premier League match against Nottingham Forest this coming weekend.

New signing Eberechi Eze, scorer-at-the-weekend-for-England Declan Rice and Noni Madueke are all expected to feature in the game which signals the end of the worst interlull in living memory.