TORR DE FORCE
Emery says he won’t rest midfield terrier
LUCAS TORREIRA is one yellow card away from missing the crunch Premier League game against Liverpool.
But Arsenal boss Unai Emery insists he will not take that into consideration when picking his team to take on Brighton today – and nor should the Uruguay international.
The totting-up procedure means any caution picked up at the Amex Stadium would be Torreira’s fifth of the season and rule him out of Saturday’s trip to Anfield.
That will not, however, be a factor in Emery’s selection policy.
“In my career I never made these decisions,” said the Spaniard. “We’re going to play the next match in Brighton and are going to play with a full team, not with considered options or playing with more caution.
“The same three points are available in Brighton that are in Liverpool and we are going to play first in Brighton.
“It’s a tough match and we will need every player with 100 per cent focus to do everything on the pitch to win.
“So I don’t want him to think about the possibility of a suspension for one yellow card. I don’t want him to think about that.”
If selected, Torreira will become the first Arsenal player to take part in 25 games this season but there is little advantage in giving the 22-year-old a rest.
Matteo Guendouzi, just 19, is only one game behind him in what has become a baptism of fire in his first season in England.
Inevitably, that could lead to concerns of burn-out in such a young player but Emery joked that the France Under-21 international is the last player he is concerned about.
“I was speaking with Koscielny and before the Burnley game I asked him about the possibility of playing,” the Gunners boss recalled.
“He said, ‘Not today’, because he’s very tired after two matches in a week, and I decided for him not to be with the group. ‘I’m not Matteo’ Koscielny added. ‘Matteo is 19 and I’m 33 years old’.
“So I’m very happy with Matteo and he is improving a lot. He is helping us with the quality and the possibility to play our style.
“He needs to improve more and needs to continue his progress with us, but he’s very young.”
Brighton beat Arsene Wenger’s Gunners 2-1 at the Amex last term.
But Seagulls midfielder Solly March has warned that today’s visitors will be a very different proposition. The resurgent Londoners went 22 games unbeaten under new boss Emery – and Albion face them without suspended skipper Lewis Dunk.
March said: “They have improved massively. Hopefully at home we can put them on the back foot.”