New injury return date set for Martinelli & Saka
John Cross reports for the Mirror that Mikel Arteta is hoping to have Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli back after the March international break, which would mean a return against Fulham on April 1st.
Cross claims both players could be involved in that game, stepping up training over the next month to be ready for the final stretch of the season.
But the journalist adds that Saka will miss Thomas Tuchel's first games in charge with England, as he's not expected to be fit until after that.
The positive slant on the news is that Arsenal will be much closer to full strength after the international break, likely only missing Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, and Takehiro Tomiyasu. All of whom are unlikely to play at all for the remainder of this season anyway.
Arsenal also don't have too many games to play before the international break, with only four Premier League fixtures over the next month and two Champions League matches.
The big negative is who those matches are against. The Gunners have to play third-place Nottingham Forest away from home, big-six sides Manchester United and Chelsea, and whichever club they draw in the Champions League last-16.
A home game against West Ham is the only one the team should really expect to win comfortably, and even that will be much more difficult with four key forwards injured.
Arteta will simply have to adapt and keep winning matches, as the Gunners did against Leicester City at the weekend.
It wasn't pretty, but five or six more results like that could keep the team in the fight for the Premier League and Champions League for when Saka and Martinelli return.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
You what!? Bayern's Club World Cup opponent have multiple squads
The new Club World Cup is starting in just a few days. 32 teams from all over the world will compete in the USA for the new golden trophy. In the lead-up to the tournament, one question kept coming up: Will the top teams bring their best squads, or will good players who have had a heavy workload be rested or perhaps even left at home? As it now appears, fans can look forward to seeing all the superstars. It would probably be quite unusual for some clubs to compete with a completely changed squad. But for one club, that's definitely not the case. Bayern's group opponent, Auckland City FC, is completely used to sending entirely different squads to different matches. Excuse me, what!? Advertisement The reasons for the various squads of the New Zealand record champions can be boiled down to two important factors. First, the enormous distances the club has to travel for matches, and second, the incredibly packed schedule. For Auckland City, 'English weeks' (multiple matches per week) are the norm. In addition to the New Zealand league, the club also competes in the national Chatham Cup and the OFC Champions League. 📸 Jeff Brass - 2006 Getty Images The regular league matches aren't really the problem. The top division in New Zealand is split into three different leagues: North, Central, and South. Things get tricky, however, when the Champions League comes around. Advertisement This is where it gets really hairy. In the Oceanian Champions League, alongside teams from Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea, there are also plenty of clubs from the Pacific islands like New Caledonia, Fiji, or French Polynesia. For the CL opener against AS Pirae, a club from the latter, Auckland had to fly a whopping 4,000 kilometers. 📸 Pool - 2024 Getty Images As if that weren't wild enough, there are often scheduling overlaps, so Auckland might have to play on a faraway island on Wednesday and then be back in action in the domestic league on Friday. That's when the second squad comes into play. Advertisement To prevent the players from being completely overworked all the time, the club sometimes sends one squad to the international matches, while another stays home to fight for the championship. 📸 Phil Walter - 2025 Getty Images And it gets even crazier. The entire competition, both in New Zealand and in the OFC CL, is only semi-professional. Almost all of Auckland City's players have regular jobs alongside their football careers and often have to use their vacation days for the long-distance matches. It's clear, of course, that the club shouldn't pose too much of a hurdle for FC Bayern in the fight for the knockout stage. Still, you can only respect the Auckland City players for everything they endure to compete for titles in the world's most beautiful sideshow. Advertisement And one thing is certain: At a major tournament like the Club World Cup, it was surely crystal clear to the players that no one would be rested and that they would travel with a full squad to experience this moment. After all, they're already used to the long flights. This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here. 📸 Graham Denholm - 2024 Getty Images
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
'Opposite of Postecoglou' - what could Spurs expect from 'chef' Frank?
"I probably won't be at Brentford forever," Thomas Frank told BBC Sport in January when asked about his ambitions. "I will maybe walk into another club." That club could be Tottenham Hotspur, who finished 17th in the Premier League table - seven places below Brentford - but will play in the Champions League next season after winning the Europa League. Advertisement Spurs have closed the door on the Ange Postecoglou era and are bidding to replace him with the Dane who established Brentford in the Premier League after winning promotion from the Championship in 2021. Frank, 51, is the second-longest-serving current manager in English football's top-flight behind Manchester City's Pep Guardiola. "It is just a question of time," said six-time Premier League-winning boss Guardiola last September, when asked if he was surprised Frank, appointed by Brentford in 2018, had not been offered a bigger job. Frank did not play football professionally but has overseen 152 Premier League games - winning 54, losing 60 and taking 200 points from a possible 456. Advertisement Of the 54 managers to take charge of 150-plus games in the Premier League era, Frank ranks 29th for points per game (1.32). During his Brentford reign, Frank has spent £254m on players and received £183m in sales - a net spend of £71m. Tottenham have spent £961m on transfers since 2016-17, according to data. Frank, who has been described as the opposite of Postecoglou for his adaptability, would be Tottenham's fourth permanent manager since 30 June 2021. Nuno Espirito Santo lasted just four months, Antonio Conte 16 months and Postecoglou, despite ending the club's 17-year wait for a major trophy, has been sent packing after two years. Advertisement "There's much more pressure at Tottenham than there is at Brentford, because of the expectation - and the manager has to handle that expectation," Chris Sutton, a Premier League winner with Blackburn Rovers in 1994-95, told BBC Sport. 'Heat on Frank straight away' Frank's boundless energy and motivational skills have got the very best out of Brentford, who are planning for a fifth consecutive season in the Premier League despite one of the smallest budgets. He has built a reputation for producing teams full of strong characters with no egos, and has helped the likes of Ivan Toney, Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa become better players - as well as many others. Advertisement Often described as a 'great human', Frank built strong relationships and socialised with his players and staff - including his love of padel - and has been praised regularly for his motivational skills. Brentford midfielder Christian Norgaard told BBC Radio 5 Live: "Thomas is very personal with the players. "He cares a lot about how we are and how we feel. It's a very important quality for a manager to have. "Not every manager has it, and the ones that do seem to have more success. He's definitely a leader and someone who guides us. He's done a fantastic job in the years that I've worked with him at Brentford." Advertisement Managing Brentford feels a very different proposition to managing Spurs though - moving from a club with consistently one of the lowest budgets in the division, to one full of high-paid, high-profile players. Sutton described Tottenham's decision to part ways with Postecoglou as "madness", and added: "That is how things work at the club that Frank is walking into." He also also believes Spurs are taking a gamble on a manager who has no experience in the Champions League. "Thomas Frank has done a brilliant job at Brentford, but this is a whole different kettle of fish," said Sutton. Advertisement "Because of the expectation at Tottenham, Frank won't get time to get his feet under the table. He will be under pressure from the off. "Postecoglou has just won them their first major European trophy for 41 years and has gone. So already you have to wonder what does Frank need to do this season to keep his job? "The aim for Frank will be to keep them in the Champions League, and whether that is by making the top four or five, that is not going to be easy. "That is a big ask for this squad, to compete on both fronts. We know this Tottenham team is better than 17th place, because they finished fifth in Postecoglou's first year, but other Premier League teams have improved since then." Tottenham recorded the league double over Brentford in 2024-25, defeating the Bees by an aggregate score of 5-1 [Getty Images] 'Frank is the opposite of Postecoglou' Brentford finished 2024-25 with more points than Tottenham (56 compared with 38), more goals (66-64) and fewer goals conceded (57-65). Advertisement In addition, Mbeumo (20), Wissa (19) and Kevin Schade (11) scored 50 goals between them after Frank was forced to adapt following the departure of Toney - 36 goals in 83 top-flight appearances for the Bees - to Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli. There have been many different versions of Brentford though since Frank first took charge. High-possession football, more counter-attacks, more percentage football - Frank has played them all, leading to many seeing him as one of the game's more adaptive coaches. From attacking flair and bravery, to at times being more pragmatic, what will Spurs look like under Frank? "It's a surprisingly difficult question to answer because he's a really flexible manager," said football tactics writer Alex Keble. Advertisement "He will automatically adapt his tactics to whoever the opposition is, a bit like Unai Emery at Aston Villa. "In many ways he's the opposite of Ange Postecoglou, who is famously wedded to one idea. "There's a statistic - what Opta call 10+ - referring to the number of passes and sequences [in one move]. In 2023-24 Brentford registered 245. In 2024-25 that figure was 325. "That tells you as time has gone on, Frank has wanted to play a more possession-based game. There's certainly plenty of counter-attacks, fast transitions and plenty of highly choreographed long balls forward - direct football." Advertisement Who are the Tottenham players who could benefit from the arrival of Frank, a manager who pays great attention to stats? "You can certainly imagine Dominic Solanke linking with Wilson Odobert in a way Wissa and Mbeumo interact," added Keble. "Defensively, Tottenham are least like Brentford. Would Frank look at the Spurs squad and think 'I can't play Brentford football here?'" Spurs fans struggled to buy into the brand of football under recent managers Jose Mourinho and Conte. Will they take to the Frank style? "I think the way he played at Brentford was quite balanced - they had different ways of playing, depending on the opposition," added Sutton. Advertisement "His Brentford team played good football at a high intensity, but ultimately fans take to managers when they win games, and that is it. "I do think he has got different strings to his bow, but it will be interesting to see what Tottenham do recruitment-wise this summer." Former Tottenham midfielder Danny Murphy is another to praise Frank's flexible approach. "They had a great intensity and physicality about them," Murphy told BBC Sport about Brentford last season. "They vary their game as well as any other team in the Premier League." 'Collaborative' and 'curious' - what is it like to play for Frank? Frank, praised for his methodical detail, has likened managing in the Premier League to being a head chef in a high-end restaurant. Advertisement "The chef needs to be able to cook the food himself," said Frank. "He's got 20 other chefs doing all these things for him so he's leading all these many chefs through his vision, his recipes and they are maximising every little detail. "But he knows how the perfect outcome should be." His profile has rocketed since he arrived in England in 2016, being appointed Brentford's assistant head coach under Dean Smith. Despite not playing professionally he has ended up in the Premier League after starting his coaching journey with the under-8s of his hometown club Frederiksvaerk. Advertisement He progressed to become coach of Denmark at various youth levels until 2013, when he was offered a first-team coaching role at Danish Superliga giants Brondby. Former striker Lee Rochester Sorensen, who was part of the Denmark Under-17s side, said: "He was always looking to improve and had a plan for every step of the way. "Thomas always had a plan A, B and C, making it clear what was needed through the four phases of play, from our goalkeeper to our attackers - he'd tell us how to press our opponents and the reasons why." Ex-Brondby midfielder Martin Ornskov enjoyed Frank's collaborative approach during their time together at the club. Advertisement "There were times when he'd discuss solutions with us during games," he said. "Far from seeing it as a weakness, I saw that as a strength. "I knew he'd be liked as a person and could evolve as a coach, but to work in the Premier League without having the experience or being a big name was a huge test. "But the thing about Thomas was he was always so curious about football - he lived for the game. I saw a different coach at the end of my three years with him." After Frank Lampard left his role as Chelsea boss in 2023, Frank invited the former England midfielder to watch Brentford train. Advertisement "When you see someone like Thomas and how diligent he is and how well he speaks, you understand he has put thousands of hours into viewing, observing, working out his way, his approach to people," Lampard, now boss at Coventry City, told the Football Daily podcast. BBC Radio London commentator Phil Parry added: "Thomas Frank as a manager is exceptionally gifted, as a person he's great - he's an exceptional coach and leader. "He also accepts he is the head of something that is very important. He stands on the shoulders of other giants who make that thing tick." Chris Sutton was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan. Advertisement
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Liverpool given HUGE boost in bid for £84m striker
Liverpool remain locked in talks with Bayer Leverkusen over the transfer of Florian Wirtz. The 22-year-old playmaker remains the club's priority in the summer window, with a 'final' bid now reported to have been made to the German side. Once the Wirtz deal is wrapped up, Liverpool will carry on with their other major summer business. There are still additions to be made at left-back and up front and Milos Kerkez will soon arrive to take care of one of those problems. Advertisement And while the Reds are close to wrapping up deals for both Wirtz and Kerkez, it will soon be time to sign an upgrade in the No9 position. It's widely believed that both Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota are at risk this summer - with neither player truly convincing Arne Slot during the Premier League title-winning campaign. Ekitike linked with Liverpool And so several star names have been linked - from Viktor Gyokeres to Victor Osimhen, and from Alexander Isak to Joao Pedro. Another name which appeared on the radar was that of Hugo Ekitike. Liverpool have had their eye on the Frenchman since his days as a young player at Reims. Now at Eintracht Frankfurt, the 22-year-old was one of the stars of the Bundesliga season and tipped to move on during the transfer window. Advertisement Chelsea had moved into the lead for Ekitike and at one stage it looked as though Liverpool had dropped out of the race altogether. But Ekitike's move to Stamford Bridge has hit a roadblock - according to the latest report in BILD - and that could open the door for the Reds. © IMAGO - Hugo Ekitike Liverpool Chelsea hesitating over Ekitike According to the report, Enzo Maresca's side are 'suddenly hesitating' over Ekitike, and time is running out for them to register the forward before the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup. He will need to be registered before June 10 in order to take part but the transfer fee is being reported as an issue. Frankfurt want £84m for their 15-goal forward but according to the report Chelsea are only prepared to go to £67m. Advertisement With Ekitike under contract until 2029, Frankfurt are under no real pressure to sell. And while Chelsea entertain doubts over the move, it could open the door for Liverpool to strike. It's no secret the Merseysiders require improvements up top - and they can capitalise on Chelsea's change of mind in order to land a long-term target. Let's get Wirtz and Kerkez wrapped - then tie up the signing of a new striker.
