Torreira on yellow tightrope

LUCAS TORREIRA is just one yellow card away from missing the crunch Premier League game against Liverpool.

Arsenal manager Unai Emery insists he will not take that into consideration when picking his team for Brighton – and nor should the Uruguay international.

The totting-up procedure means a caution at the Amex Stadium today would be his fifth of the season and rule him out of Saturday’s trip to Anfield.

“In my career I never made these decisions,” said Emery. “We are going to play the next match in Brighton and we are going to play with a full team, not with considered options or playing with more caution.

“It’s a tough match and we will need every player with 100 per cent focus. So I don’t want him to think about the possibility of a suspension.”

If selected, Torreira will become the first Arsenal player to take part in 25 games this season and fellow midfielder Matteo Guendouzi, just 19, is only one game behind him in his first season in England.

Inevitably, that could lead to concerns of burnout but Emery said that he is not concerned about Guendouzi.

Emery, however, will have to do without Henrikh Mkhitaryan who will be out of action until the New Year after breaking a bone in his foot.

The Armenian midfielder was replaced at half-time during the 2-0 Carabao Cup defeat by Tottenham Hotspur last week, and a scan he has fractured a metatarsal in his right foot that will require six weeks of rehabilitation.