Martial out but Antony could take on Arsenal
● Manchester United will make a late call on whether new signing Antony will play in today’s Premier League game against early pace-setters Arsenal while fellow forward Anthony Martial will miss the clash due to injury, manager Erik ten Hag said.
United signed Antony on a five-year contract for a reported initial fee of £80.75m and the Brazil international who played under Ten Hag at Ajax Amsterdam took part in his first team training session on Friday.
“He did his first training (on Thursday), so an individual session,” Ten Hag said after a 10 win at Leicester City on Thursday which lifted them to fifth in the league.
“On Friday, we have a team session and on Saturday we have a team session, so I will think about it and then we will take a decision.”
Martial has not featured in United’s last two games after sustaining an Achilles injury after the win over Liverpool last month, while defenders Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Luke Shaw also missed the Leicester match.
“It’s difficult to say, when I talk about Shaw and Wan-Bissaka, but Martial will not be involved on Sunday,” the Dutch manager added.
Arsenal have won all five of their opening games and Ten Hag said he expected a difficult clash against Mikel Arteta’s side. “I have seen Arsenal, a tough opponent, they have started really well in the season, and you can see there is a team who are a long [time] together, with a coach who brings his philosophy in the team,” he said.
So this is a good test and I’m really looking forward to it. We will pick the right 11 to start but as you see, it’s not only a team, we have a squad
“So this is a good test and I’m really looking forward to it. We will pick the right 11 to start but as you see, it’s not only a team, we have a squad ... The substitutes who came on [on Thursday] did really well, so I’m happy with that. That is what we have to construct further.”
Arteta is happy with the squad depth following the club’s business in the transfer window but said that they failed in their attempt to sign a midfielder on deadline day after injuries to Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny.
Arsenal signed five players, including Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko from Manchester City, but did not succeed in their late attempt to sign Douglas Luiz from Aston Villa, who reportedly rejected three offers for the Brazil midfielder.
The London club had as many as 37 players leave, including high-profile players such as Alexandre Lacazette and Nicolas Pepe.
Arteta said the table toppers were in good spirits ahead of today’s trip to United. “We’ve won away before, we have to do it again and believe we are capable of going there, playing our way and winning the match. I don’t think it’s an issue,” the Spaniard said.
Goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale [thigh] and midfielder Martin Odegaard [foot] will be assessed ahead of today’s game, while Zinchenko is unlikely to feature after missing training. Partey is expected to be out for “weeks”, while Elneny will be sidelined for “months” after both suffered thigh injuries. Reuters