Jose Mourinho told Sky Sports pre-match that he was ‘not surprised’ at Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang starting from the bench during Arsenal’s 2-1 win in the North London derby on Sunday.
Many Arsenal fans, and even Tottenham, would have perhaps expected Aubameyang to be lining upfront from the get-go yesterday.
But it wasn’t meant to be.
Mikel Arteta opted to drop his captain for being in ‘breach of pre-match protocol’, as reported by BBC Sport.
In the end, Aubameyang didn’t even come onto the pitch, as Mourinho was asked about not facing the speedster from the off yesterday.
“No, not surprised at all,” said Mourinho. “They went to Leicester without him. They went to Leicester with Lacazette.
“Lots of matches. They have also, like we have, ambitions in the Europa League. Auba may have played 90 or 80, I don’t know, minutes against Olympiacos.
“Lacazette didn’t play. That didn’t surprise me at all. They have very good players.”
It’s a decision that has perhaps worked in Arsenal’s favour because it has allowed Aubameyang to rest up ahead of their Europa League tie on Thursday.
Even though Arsenal have a two-goal cushion over Olympiacos, they are still aware of what the Greek outfit are capable of after they knocked them out of the competition last season.
But Arsenal fans should expect to see Aubameyang line up from the start on Thursday as they aim to build on this crucial and much-needed North London derby win.
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