Arsenal Wait for the Major Squad to take off outside Manchester...

Some player names are certainties for every game.

In the Premier League discussion, when a manager chooses his starting line-up, some players are pre-printed on the sheet before filling out the rest. Arsenal have a few, and Kieran Tierney is one of them.

While the above is not that indeed When choosing the starting line-up we try to show how important our Scottish left-back is.

As Arsenal prepares to go to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday night – the sight of their last away win at a “big six” around 70 months ago – much of the conversation revolves around new signing Thomas Partey. While he is ready to nod at Manchester City, despite not being too familiar with Tierney, you can bet on your lower dollar that he wishes was by his side by 5:30 p.m.

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But as it is, Mikel Arteta has to deal with the fight against his former tutor without a key member of his cadre.

An appeal was launched to allow Tierney to play. The Scottish Football Association has been told it will have to isolate for 14 days after contacting Stuart Armstrong, who tested positive for COVID-19. This despite the 23-year-old’s compliance with the social distancing rules and the creation of three negative tests.

Atheltic’s James McNicholas gave his assessment of the situation on the Arsecast podcast, saying he is confident, albeit with no real basis, that Arsenal will get some good news this week:

“I think – and it’s just a guess – that Arsenal will be able to get around it just because if the Premier League rules say they only have to isolate for a week then I think that’s the rules are whatever the SFA says. ”

There are options as to how Arteta could tackle the full-back absence. Such a possibility could be without Sead Kolasinac, who took a blow on international service and may not be available either.

If so, the likely outcome will be with Gabriel Magalhaes on the left of the last three, with David Luiz and Rob Holding by his side. In this setup, Ainsley Maitland-Niles can take over left wing. Whether you choose Bukayo Saka or Maitland-Niles depends on Arteta’s approach.

Where Maitland-Niles is missing in the last third, he compensates first, while Saka’s creativity and flair in forward positions go hand in hand with the reservation of inferior defensive discipline and positioning. Someone who loves to take up space tends to do the same thing at both ends of the pitch out of habit. He can lose his husband too easily.

There is trust in anyone who walks in, but neither is Tierney. Gabriel, as good as he was, has not been tested against such top-class opponents, even if he kept silent about Mohamed Salah in Anfield.

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The entire team will be significantly more confident when the humble plastic bag hero gets the green light to play, but we can’t rest on our laurels if he isn’t. However, a win or even a draw is easier to achieve with him. Positive news better come soon, however; He has to go to the training ground.