Unai Emery reveals whether Lacazette and Tierney will start against Sheffield United
Arsenal manager Unai Emery has updated on the fitness of Alexandre Lacazette and Kieran Tierney in the lead up to the Premier League clash against Sheffield United on Monday night.
Lacazette has not featured since the end of August following a minor ankle concern but he has recently returned to first-team training and appears on course to make a comeback.
In a press conference ahead of the Sheffield game, Emery spoke about the importance of Lacazette in the club’s ranks and acknowledged that his return to training is a boost for the Gunners.
However, the Spanish tactician revealed that he has yet to decide over the Frenchman’s involvement and a late fitness test may determine whether he can either start or feature from the substitutes’ bench.
“It’s positive for us that he’s started training and that he’s a possibility for Monday. I don’t know whether he’s ready for 90 minutes or on the bench. We’ll decide that over the next days, but it’s very important for him to come back to training with us,” he was quoted as saying by the club’s official website.
Meanwhile, when pressed on the involvement of Tierney, Emery acknowledged that the Scotland international is ready to make his Premier League debut and hinted that the left-back could get the nod over Sead Kolasinac following the latter’s excursions with Bosnia & Herzegovina during the international break.
“[Tierney is] ready to play. Now we have two options in that left-back role with Sead Kolasinac and him. We’re going to play a lot of matches after Monday. We will need every player. It depends how he comes into the first training with us, Sead, after his international matches,” he added.
Arsenal have currently third on the Premier League table with 15 points on the board but they could potentially drop out of the top four by the time they face Chris Wilder’s side at Bramall Lane.
Unai Emery’s men are undoubtedly favourites to register a victory over Sheffield but the game won’t be straightforward with the Blades displaying a strong defensive resolve in their home patch this term.
