Where was Ben White against Burnley? Mikel Arteta explains Arsenal star's absence during Premier League victory over Clarets
After his Arsenal side defeated Burnley 3-1 on Saturday afternoon, Mikel Arteta gave an explanation for Ben White's exclusion from the matchday squad.
WHAT HAPPENED? Leandro Trossard gave the Gunners the lead just before the half ended. Josh Brownhill equalised for the visitors, but William Saliba and Oleksandr Zinchenko scored goals in the second half to take the lead again. With White joining the club's current list of concerns, Arteta's side's outing proved fruitful considering Arsenal's injury issues. The centre-back has been a constant in the starting lineup this season, although at right-back, but on Saturday, Takehiro Tomiyasu started in his place and he was completely absent from the squad.
WHAT THEY SAID: "Yesterday in training he wasn’t comfortable. He didn’t look right. But Ben won’t give you much," said Arteta in the post-match press conference. «He always wants to be on the pitch and he wants to hide anything that is in there. But we highlighted something happening there that we noticed in the last two weeks as well. We wanted to protect him today. It was the right call from the physios and the medical department and tomorrow we will assess him and understand what’s happening.»
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Other injury worries from the midweek match, Tomiyasu and Bukayo Saka, both started on Saturday, with the latter setting up Trossard for the first. Currently out with injury are Emile Smith Rowe, Martin Odegaard, Jurrien Timber, Thomas Partey, and Gabriel Jesus.
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WHAT NEXT? With the league pausing for the international break, White will have a good amount of time to recover before the Gunners take on Brentford on November 25.
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