Martin Keown says that Arsenal’s squad players must step up to the plate in the absence of Declan Rice on Sunday.
The Gunners head straight from an international break into one of the most important games of the season as they face Tottenham in the north London derby.
Mikel Arteta‘s side will be without Rice though, with the England midfielder suspended after his controversial red card against Brighton.
As a result, Keown believes that Arsenal will need to lean on their back-up players and hope that they can rise to the challenge of such a full-blooded encounter.
Speaking on White and Jordan, Keown said: “Jorginho has to come into that position and he has plenty of experience but it can’t just be one player.
“Back in the day there were many times when we were without the likes of Patrick Vieira or Thierry Henry, it didn’t matter.
“Players came in – Edu came in, or Kanu came in.
“You’ve got to have a squad who are strong enough and this is where the question mark will be with Arsenal because they’ve let a lot of good young players go and they had to do that to balance the books.
“It’s whether the squad is strong enough.”
Unfortunately for Mikel Arteta, Rice isn’t the only player who will be missing at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
New signing Riccardo Calafiori suffered a freak injury while away on international duty with Italy and new signing Mikel Merino faces a long spell on the sidelines after picking up a shoulder injury.
Takehiro Tomiyasu remains a long-term absentee, while there are doubts over Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus‘s fitness going into the weekend’s game.
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Asked how Arsenal must conquer their injury problems, Keown said: “I just look at what happened at the weekend and I think it was an unfair situation for Arsenal to have to deal with but you put it to one side, don’t you?
“You use it as oxygen for the game with Spurs and in that game you always go into the cauldron of anticipation with the fans and the start of a new season.
“Spurs have already lost a game against Newcastle but I like what Spurs are doing. I like the way they play and the unity and togetherness in the stadium, so it’s a difficult situation.
“Right now, I think they’ll maybe be focusing more on themselves – the last time Arsenal went there they went their looking to win a game of football to stop them becoming champions.
“Maybe with the new manager, they have their own culture and have their own trophies that they want to win, it’s been a long time.
“We have to respect Spurs and it’s difficult because you want to go there with your best players but they’re not there.
“Calafiori is another one who has picked up an injury and Merino, the boy who came in.
“It’s not been a lucky start for Arsenal but what they need to do is go into that cauldron and pick up some points.”
Since Spurs moved to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, it’s the Whites who have dominated.
Tottenham have won three of their last four contests – 2-1, 2-0 and 3-0 – until Arsenal turned the tide in January 2023 with a 2-0 win.
Their most recent clash saw the Gunners win 3-2 to keep their faint title hopes alive in a match that could have seen Tottenham officially deprive them of the crown.
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Asked if a Spurs win would be a shock, Keown said: “I think it probably would, but I don’t see it happening.
“I think that Arsenal are still good enough – when you look at their defensive record and the number of clean sheets in recent times.
“If you look at their away record you start to think they have the pedigree of champions.
“I’m going to go with Arsenal but you have to earn everything you get at Spurs now.”
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