Arsenal Coach Arteta Explains Exactly Why Saka Did Not Start In 2-1 Loss To Tottenham Hotspur

Published: July 12, 2020

Tottenham Hotspur have gone above Arsenal in the Premier League standings after beating the Gunners 2-1 in their first visit to the new stadium on Sunday evening.

As for team news, Anglo-Nigerian winger Bukayo Saka, who has done well for Arsenal lately, was surprisingly not named in the starting lineup, with manager Mikel Arteta picking Nicolas Pepe over the Anglo-Nigerian.

The England U19 international would later come off the bench to replace Pepe with 20 minutes remaining and with both teams tied at 1-1.

It was going well for Arsenal when Alexandre Lacazette opened the scoring with a sensational shot from outside the box in the 16th minute but the lead lasted barely two minutes as Heung-Min Son brought Spurs back on level terms with a neat finish after a defensive blunder by David Luiz.

Nine minutes from time, Belgian center back Toby Alderweireld headed home a corner which ended up winning the game for Jose Mourinho's team.

Prior to the match against Tottenham, Saka had started all but one of the matches played by the Gunners and Arteta explained just before the start of today's game that the versatile winger was rested with an eye on the upcoming matches.

When asked why Saka was omitted from the starting lineup, Arteta told Sky Sports : "He has played a lot of games, we have a lot of games coming up, we have to still rotate some players. We have some issues during the week".

Up next for Bukayo Saka and his Arsenal teammates, they welcome the new champions Liverpool to the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday, July 15.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : arsenal.com

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