Nicolas Pepe, Reiss Nelson, and Joe Willock IN, Thomas Partey and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang OUT as Arsenal take on Dundalk

2 months ago 69

Arsenal host Irish side Dundalk on Thursday night in the Europa League and know anything but a win will heap pressure on manager Mikel Arteta.

The Gunners suffered a defeat at the hands of Leicester City at the weekend, their third of the Premier League season, which is just six games old.

Arteta is now under some scrutiny at the EmiratesGetty Images - Getty

The Spaniard’s side were also forced to come from behind against Rapid Vienna last Thursday to seal a 2-1 win after a shaky showing.

And it’s not getting any easier with David Luiz out of tonight’s game and a doubt for the weekend’s fixture with Manchester United.

Shkodran Mustafi replaced him having spent three months out injured, but he’s currently set to run down his contract in north London

The German is, though, keen to contribute after such a long spell on the sideline.

“At the end of the day, it was important for me in the last three months to come back after the injury and to be ready to play and to help my team,” he said in the pre-match press conference.

“When you hopefully get a few games, you can maybe look at the future. But at the moment for me it has been difficult, because in the last months I haven’t really been thinking about the end of my contract or what’s going on with the future because all I wanted was to be back as quick as possible.

“I think I missed a few important games in the last months and I just wanted to be back as quick as possible, try and play a few games and then when the time comes, think about what’s next and hopefully we are going to have some news for you.”