Ozil rested despite playing only 71 minutes this season

Unai Emery has said that Mesut Ozil has been left out of Arsenal’s squad to play Eintracht Frankfurt tonight because he is being rested for the weekend, despite the German playing only 71 minutes of competitive football so far this season.

Ozil made his first appearance of the campaign in Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Watford, when he was substituted in the second half. He is one of only two senior players, alongside defender Sokratis, to have been left out of the Europa League trip to Germany. If he had been selected, it would have been Ozil’s first match in the country of his birth since his retirement from international football last year, when he triggered huge political debate in Germany after issuing a detailed statement in which he cited racism.

It would also have been Ozil’s first game outside of the south-east of England since the security threats that caused him and Sead Kolasinac to miss the first match of the Premier League season. “I prefer after Sunday [for Ozil] to rest and to train and to be ready for Sunday [against Aston Villa],” Emery said. “My decision is because he played [against Watford].”

Kolasinac, meanwhile, has spoken about the security threats that dogged his start to the season, including an attempted carjacking when he fought off two knife-wielding thugs in London. “I am happy to be back,” Kolasinac said. “Mentally this was hard, missing also training for a couple of days.”