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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will miss Arsenal’s Carabao Cup quarter-finals against Manchester City with a calf injury, says Mikel Arteta.
Aubameyang was absent in the Gunners’ 2-1 loss at Everton on Saturday, after which they are 15th in the Premier League and just four points above the relegation zone.
Tuesday’s game at home against City – live Sky sports – It is an opportunity for Arsenal to forget their dismal form in the league and focus on reaching a cup semi-final, but their task is complicated without their captain.
Arteta said: “Auba is not fit for tomorrow, that’s for sure. [He] it feels so much better. Yesterday (Sunday) was more positive than in the previous two days. He’ll have another scan in the next few days and we’ll see how quickly we can get him back to the team.
Tuesday, December 22 7:30 p.m.
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“He knows how important he is to us, he feels the responsibility and is doing his best to get in shape as quickly as possible.”
Despite struggling in the league, Arsenal have impressed in the Carabao Cup this season having beaten Leicester and Liverpool to reach the round of 16.
Arteta has already won the FA Cup and Community Shield since he became coach 12 months ago, and he believes a win over City can prepare the Gunners for more success this season.
He said: “This is what we want to use it for because it is a competition we want to try to win. We had two tough opponents, with Leicester and Liverpool. We managed to beat them both and now we are playing at home and they are one step closer to Wembley.
Mikel Arteta was Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Manchester City before returning to Arsenal to become their manager in December 2019.
“It’s a really nice game for us because it’s the kind of game we’re looking for this season.”
Although he has already added two trophies to Arsenal’s collection during his relatively short time at Emirates, Arteta is under increasing pressure due to his position in the league.
He has only won one of his last 10 games in the competition and the Spaniard believes that it will be in difficult moments when he will discover what kind of characters he has in his squad.
“Normally, when that happens, there are two types of people: combatants and victims,” he explained. “You only need fighters, you don’t want victims.
“The victims just make excuses, bring negativity and begin to blame everything that is happening around them or that they are not doing well.
“You just need people who fight, people who contribute and people willing to give everything for the cause right now.”
How to beat Arsenal is obvious
“We need to generate more to win football games,” Arteta said after the 2-1 loss to Everton. That’s clear, but how do Arsenal plan to do that? Their loss at Goodison Park on Saturday was more of the same from a team languishing towards the bottom of the table.
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FREE TO SEE: Highlights from Everton’s win over Arsenal in the Premier League
Ten games have yielded a victory and Arteta cannot argue that his team has been unlucky, not now. This is not a false position; this is a poor Premier League team. The problems are obvious and, perhaps even more worrying, they are familiar. Arsenal don’t create opportunities from open play, let alone score them, and that slow focus game is starting to look like it’s by design.
“Everton just let them have the ball,” said Jamie Carragher, in a co-comment with Sky sports. “The same as in Tottenham: let Arsenal have the ball and what can they do? Don’t believe anything.
“When a team goes down and is winning, then it’s up to you to create chances, not keep the ball. Possession doesn’t mean anything then, it’s about what you create. The competition isn’t who gets the ball anymore. Everton are winning , have been reduced What can you create?
“I can’t think of anything in this second half where Arsenal created an opportunity that they should have scored or the goalkeeper made a great save. That’s the name of the game.”
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