Arsenal have been rocked by the news that Kieran Tierney is still unavailable.
The visit of Leeds United on Sunday will be the sixth successive game that the Scottish left-back has missed through injury.
It’s a big worry, but an even bigger worry is the fact that Cedric Soares looks set to replace him against the Whites – and it could be pretty nasty for the Arsenal defender.
Soares, who is a right-back by trade and earns £75,000 per week in North London, is preparing to come up against a very tricky customer in the form of Leeds’ Raphinha.
And if the United winger can make a mug of seasoned veterans like Gary Cahill, which he did against Crystal Palace last weekend, then you fear for the Arsenal man a little bit.
But if he does have the worst game of his Gunners career, it’s a reflection on Edu and Mikel Arteta, not him.
That’s because Edu and Arteta loaned out Sead Kolasinac and Ainsley Maitland-Niles during the January transfer window and with Tierney’s injury history, they sanctioned both transfers knowing that it could very well come back to bite them.
Kolasinac and Maitland-Niles are far better options to replace Tierney than Soares – Maitland-Niles won the FA Cup with Arsenal at a left wing-back role , for example – and if the former Saints man gets roasted by Raphinha for 90 minutes on Sunday, it’s an embarrassing indictment for Arteta and Edu’s decision making, not the Portugal international.
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