Mikel Arteta surprised Arsenal fans by leaving out one of their most regular starters for the visit of Nottingham Forest.
Coming out of the international break, Arteta elected to shuffle his pack for Saturday’s early kick-off and fans were most surprised to see star midfielder and England international Declan Rice on the bench.
Rice rarely misses a game for the Gunners and through the first three league matches he has played all bar seven minutes, coming off in the 83rd minute of the 1-0 away win against Manchester United.
He has two assists through the first three league games and is an integral piece of the puzzle for the Arteta, leading to a great deal of surprise that he was replaced in the starting XI by Mikel Merino to face Nottingham Forest.
Asked about his squad selection, Arteta stressed that he has to manage the minutes of his top players with so many games in a short space of time.
‘The amount of games we play in the next 21 days,’ Arteta told TNT Sports. ‘It is finding that right balance by making sure everybody is connected.’
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Mikel Arteta (left) made a bold selection call to leave Declan Rice (right) on the subs’ bench
Arteta has handed summer signing Eberechi Eze his full debut for the club, while Noni Madueke, fresh off his brilliant display in Serbia for England, continues on the right wing in the absence of Bukayo Saka.
This is a fixture that has been very kind to Arsenal over the years and so Rice’s absence from the starting XI may not present itself too harshly.
The Gunners have won their last six home games against Nottingham Forest by an aggregate score of 19-2 and are unbeaten in their last 14 matches at home against them.
Arsenal XI: Raya, Timber, Mosquera, Gabriel, Calafiori, Zubimendi, Merino, Odegaard, Eze, Madueke, Gyokeres
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Hincapie, White, Martinelli, Trossard, Nwaneri, Rice, Lewis-Skelly, Dowman
