Gunners’ goal glut marred by injury
Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette will miss the weekend Premier League clash with Manchester United after hobbling out of last night 5-0 win over Huddersfieldm.
The France star hit an early opener, only to trudge off at half-time, with a groin problem, and boss Arsene Wenger confirmed: “Lacazette has a groin problem and will be out certainly for Saturday’s game.”
Meanwhile, Wenger says Mesut Ozil has shown newfound “fight” to steer Arsenal to successive wins.
Ozil remains linked to a move away from Arsenal at the end of the season, but Wenger continues to prefer to focus on the German’s on-field credentials.
Olivier Giroud bagged a brace, while Lacazette, Alexis Sanchez and man of the match Ozil also found the net.
“Nobody has to convince us he’s a great football player,” said Wenger, of Ozil. “Everybody knows in the stadium he’s a great football player, but at the moment as well he shows he can fight. “Our job is to encourage people to fight, but I think he always covered the distances in games, but he’s at an age where he’s more mature and understands what is more important and what is less important. He always wants the ball. He never hides, he’s always available.”
Huddersfield posed plenty of problems in a battling firsthalf. Boss David Wagner said: “I’m very confident we can stay in the division, with everything we’ve done and what I’ve seen so far – if we are strong enough mentality and can keep our key players healthy. If you’ve seen Arsenal’s squad next to ours on the back of the programme, it’s clear we have to keep our key players healthy.”