Mikel Arteta suggests he will rest key Arsenal players against Liverpool after playing 'crazy minutes'

Arteta could rest players for Saturday's FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea.
REUTERS

Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta says he could be forced to rest players for Wednesday's clash with Liverpool as his player have played “some crazy minutes” since football returned.

The Premier League, like many divisions around Europe, was forced to shutdown in March due to the outbreak of coronavirus.

It has since returned but players have been forced into a tight schedule, with Arsenal in particular hit hard.

The Gunners have had to fit in an extra League game against Manchester City, while their FA Cup run too has forced them to be playing twice a week.

Next up they face champions Liverpool on Wednesday and Arteta, while he wants to play his strongest side, could be forced into changes ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final with Manchester City.

In Pictures | Tottenham vs Arsenal, north London derby | 12/07/2020

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“Today and tomorrow we will asses the players and how they are,” said Arteta.

“And obviously they’ve been hit and a lot of them have played some crazy minutes up until now and again we’re going to have games every two and a half days.

“Obviously some players have had huge demands since we rejoined the season and have played a lot of minutes, and you can see that recovery-wise with the schedule that we have been given by the Premier League, to play every two and a half days, but we will asses them today and tomorrow and put the players on the pitch who are in the best possible condition to compete and try to win the game again.”

Arteta is refusing to moan about Arsenal’s packed schedule, but he has highlighted how their opponents have seemingly had more time to prepare for matches than them.

“We played eight games and we only had the advantage in one, which was against Spurs,” he said.

“In the rest, the other teams had at least 24/36/48 hours more than us. But look at the boys, they keep going, they go full gas. It doesn't matter and we will do it again.

“We cannot complain because it doesn't matter. They're not going to change it. The fixtures are already there, so we will keep going and try our best.”

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