Morning. It’s gone a bit cold here. Winter is coming and all that. Pffff, I’m not a fan. But what can any of us do about the earth’s axis? Nothing.
Let’s round up the Arsenal involvement from yesterday, and I expected both David Raya and Mikel Merino to feature for Spain as they played Switzerland in Tenerife, but neither player even got on the pitch. That’s probably good for us, assuming these were just selection decisions and not ones informed by fitness issues. Spain ran out 3-2 winners to finish top of their Nation’s League group.
Each team that finishes top gets a small trophy, a collection of tiny medals, and a 20% voucher code for ‘Food in a box’, the handy ready-meal service for the busy professional. They send you quality fresh ingredients with full instructions … in a box! If you’re looking to do more cooking, and impress your family with your culinary skills, then you need ‘Food in a box’. Just use the code ‘nobodygivesashitaboutthenationsleague‘ at check-out.
Elsewhere, Jakub Kiwior played for Poland as they were beaten 2-1 by Scotland. I don’t really have anything else to tell you about that. Today, there is potential action for the following:
Jurrien Timber – Netherlands face Bosnia and Herzegovina. He played 68 minutes of the 4-0 win over Hungary on Saturday, so could feature again today.
Kai Havertz – Germany are playing Hungary today, a game you would expect them to win, and one where perhaps there could be some rotation. After 90 minutes against Bosnia and Herzegovina, could he be rested? Probably not. He’ll somehow be asked to play 10,000 minutes.
Oleksandr Zinchenko – Ukraine play Albania. He didn’t get on the pitch during their 1-1 draw with Georgia the other day. I can’t help but think there’s something going on with him beyond fitness. He’s barely off the bench for us, and while I recognise part of that is tactical/down to form, I wonder if there’s something else at play. I keep seeing bits from his book doing the rounds, talking about things Mikel Arteta says/does, and perhaps that’s not something the manager has appreciated. We know how much he likes to keep stuff internal. Anyway, let’s see if he gets any minutes today.
Gabriel and Gabriel Martinelli – Brazil face Uruguay in a World Cup qualifier in the early hours of Wednesday morning (our time). The former is likely to the start, the latter most probably an option from the bench due to Brazil’s depth, but whatever happens, let’s hope they both come through unscathed.
After that, there are no more Interlulls until March. It’s all Arsenal, all the time, so keep your fingers crossed. Obviously there are other issues back home, and we’ll wait for updates later this week on the likes of Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Riccardo Calafiori, Leandro Trossard, and Takehiro Tomiyasu. That’s a not insignificant cohort of players, at least three of whom are nailed on starters if fit, but we won’t find out until the week progresses, and maybe not even until Friday when Mikel Arteta will hold his press conference ahead of Nottingham Forest.
Question: Do you have any updates on Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Riccardo Calafiori, Leandro Trossard, and Takehiro Tomiyasu?
Answer: We have to wait and see how they are.
Question: Haven’t you already waited?
Answer: Yes. But we need to wait some more.
Question: Until when?
Answer: I can’t tell you that.
Anyway, fingers crossed for some good news at least, but I suspect it’s a bit much to expect all of them to be fit and ready. Right, I’m gonna leave it there for this morning, but if you missed yesterday’s Arsecast Extra, just a reminder that we’ve put brand new ‘Goodly Morning’ mugs on sale.
It’s the perfect Christmas gift for the Arsecast listener in your life, and you can get yours here: https://www.redbubble.com/i/mug/Goodly-Morning-Mug-2024-by-arseblog/166259371.9Q0AD
We will, of course, donate 100% of the proceeds, and probably a bit more, to charity. We’ll give you details of the chosen charities in the next week or so. For now, I’ll leave you with the Arsecast Extra below, which contains some incredible mathematics chat, and if you fancy a bit more with me and James, we’ll be Patreon later with an episode of Waffle – the podcast where we answer questions about anything and everything expect Arsenal.
For now, have a great Tuesday.
