According to the Daily Mail, Arsenal have now made an official request to the Premier League to postpone the North London Derby on Sunday due to a lack of players.
Mikel Arteta previously admitted that the North London derby could be postponed due to a number of injuries and Covid-19 cases within the Arsenal camp.
Arsenal lost midfielder Martin Odegaard to a positive COVID test shortly before their 0-0 draw against Liverpool in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final on Thursday, while the Gunners also had players missing at the African Cup of Nations.
Cedric Soares and Bukayo Saka both limped off with injuries during the game while Granit Xhaka is suspended for the Spurs clash after being sent off at Anfield.
The Premier League’s rules state that the team must fulfil their fixtures if they have 13 outfields and a goalkeeper available to play but Arsenal allegedly only have 12.
The Arsenal boss told ESPN about the North London derby in his press conference: “[Postponement] is a possibility in every game, from our side and the opponents’ side with the issues everyone is having and it is happening every week.
“But we try to prepare the game thinking we will play.
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“We came here (to Anfield) and we were missing nine or 10 players. We don’t know what to expect the next day so we cannot be looking at that.
“We cannot use it as an excuse. We have to play games, it is our job and it can change to be in a more difficult position. But we have players I decided to play and we will try to do the same on Sunday.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Given that Arsenal have already played two games more than us while West Ham have played three more, Spurs cannot afford to have another match postponed.
Let’s hope the game on Sunday goes ahead as scheduled. A win would put us in the driving seat for fourth place as it will take us above Arsenal.
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