Man City and Arsenal chiefs fear burnout but have no time to recover as they lace up again for Prem title fight
ARSENAL’S hierarchy fear burnout and fatigue have hit Mikel Arteta’s squad at the crunch time of the season.
The Gunners crashed out of the Champions League at the quarter- final stage with a flat performance at Bayern Munich, just days after the 2-0 home Premier League loss to Aston Villa.
And Manchester City also fear that their glory charge is running out of gas after Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne and Manuel Akanji all ASKED to be substituted before they lost on penalties to Real Madrid in their last-eight showdown at the Etihad.
At Arsenal, the likes of skipper Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Ben White, Gabriel Jesus, Jorginho and Takehiro Tomiyasu have all carried niggling injuries and battled through the pain barrier.
William Saliba has played every minute of Arsenal’s 32 Prem games, while fellow centre-back Gabriel, White, Saka, Odegaard and Declan Rice have each posted more than 3,400 minutes in all competitions.
Boss Arteta rarely rotates and does not fully trust fringe players like Fabio Vieira, Emile Smith Rowe, Eddie Nketiah or Reis Nelson — and now his frontline players seem to be hitting the wall.
Arteta admitted he wants a squad of 22 elite players he can swap in and out — much like Pep Guardiola’s City — and that is something the Gunners hope to achieve over the next few transfer windows.
But Arsenal’s workload concerns are echoed by title rivals City.
The Etihad outfit saw their Euro defence and the chance of another Treble ended by the 14-time kings of the competition.
And Guardiola’s penalty options were limited after Haaland and De Bruyne — as well as Akanji — were benched in the closing stages.
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Guardiola said: “Erling, Kevin and Manu asked me to go out.
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