Football

Mesut Ozil and Sead Kolasinac left out of Arsenal friendly after conversation with Unai Emery


Mesut Ozil and Sead Kolasinac were attacked during an attempted carjacking earlier this week (Picture: Getty)

Unai Emery has decided to afford Mesut Ozil and Sead Kolasinac more time to recover from their midweek ordeal, leaving both  men out of the Arsenal squad for Sunday’s friendly against Lyon.

The pair were attacked by a metal-pole wielding scooter gang in north London on Thursday afternoon. Both escaped without sustaining injury after Kolasinac bravely confronted the attackers, while Ozil sped away with the wives of the two players understood to have been in the passenger seats of the German’s car.

Neither Ozil or Kolasinac were pictured in training at London Colney on Thursday, but according to PA Emery has spoken with the pair and decided not to include them in the squad for the game against the Ligue 1 side, although both players are in attendance at Emirates Stadium.

Ozil’s compatriot, Sami Khedira, who has been recently linked with a move to the north London club, was also spotted at the stadium as Arsenal ramp up their preparations ahead of the new Premier League season which begins in a fortnight’s time.

New signing Dani Ceballos makes the bench following confirmation of his loan move from Real Madrid, while Matteo Guendouzi makes his first start of the pre-season campaign with Lucas Torreira not due to return to training until Monday after his exertions with Uruguay at the Copa America.

Emery, meanwhile, continues with a flat back four having largely operated with a five-man defence during the second half of last season.

Calum Chambers, who spent last season on loan at Fulham, starts at the heart of Arsenal’s defence alongside Sokratis Papastathopoulos who was sent off in the penalty shootout defeat against Real Madrid earlier this week.

Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang start up front, while teenager Joe Willock is handed an opportunity to impress again after several eye-catching performances during the tour of America.





READ SOURCE

Leave a Reply

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies.