Arsenal suffered their first Premier League defeat of the season yesterday as they lost 3-1 to Manchester United at Old Trafford.
As well as the disappointing defeat, it seems as though the north London club and Mikel Arteta have been dealt another potential blow regarding the fitness of one of their players.
In a Twitter post after the game, The Athletic journalist, David Ornstein, had this to say on the matter.
“Emile Smith Rowe appeared to pull up with an injury during Arsenal warm-down. 22yo attacking midfielder looked distressed as he was accompanied back to dressing room by #AFC assistant coach Carlos Cuesta, while rest of substitutes continued their session.”
The midfielder has yet to start a league game for the Gunners this season but has made four substitute appearances, the latest of which coming in yesterday’s defeat in Manchester.
This shows how much of a reliable figure he is for Arteta, who clearly recognises the talent Smith Rowe has by selecting him off the bench more often than not.
Last season saw the Englishman score 10 goals in 33 league appearances, leaving only Bukayo Saka finding the net on more occasions (12).
In fact, only Saka (49) made more successful dribbles than Smith Rowe (32), highlighting how tricky he is on the ball in an attacking sense.
Taking all of this into account, even though the midfielder hasn’t been able to find a place in Arteta’s starting XI so far this season, it’s clear that he has the talent to make a difference off the bench and therefore will be a big blow for the Arsenal manager if this suspected injury ends up being a serious one.
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