Saturday round-up. Gyokeres scores again, Tzolis hamstring update

Morning all.

A quick Saturday round-up for you, beginning with Viktor Gyokeres finding the back of the net for Sweden again. That makes it three games in a row (and apparently six Nations League games in a row, although nobody still has any idea what the Nations League is). Anyway, he had one disallowed in their game against Bosnia and Herzegovina, before rattling home the opening goal of the game which finished 1-1 – watch here.

You don’t often see him with that kind of time and space in the Premier League, but take nothing away from the finish because he absolutely rifled that home. Without wanting to labour the point, Gyokeres scoring for Sweden can only be positive for Arsenal. I suspect he went away on this Interlull a bit low on confidence having played so little in the league, and by his own admission he says he needs to do better. So, finding a nice scoring streak for his country really can’t be anything but a good thing.

Riccardo Calafiori played the full game for Italy as they drew 1-1 with France. Michael Olise’s free kick was really quite something, anyone who doesn’t draw a bit extra from a ball that hits the underside of the bar then bounces down and in has something wrong with them. Italy equalised in the second half and as far as I can tell Calafiori came through without incident, and we’ll wait and see if he’s involved in their game against Turkey on Tuesday.

Tonight, the English and Spanish lads will be in contention for their countries as they face Croatia and Czechia respectively, and at this point I’m beginning to lose track of the games, who is playing who, and when, and ultimately why. I know, it’s the Nations League, and while this Interlull is designed so that we have one less break in the season, the extended nature of it feels hard to keep track of. Especially with the multiple games against the same opposition thing going on.

Meanwhile, Christos Tzolis is on his way back to North London to have his hamstring injury assessed. I saw a Greek reporter suggest an absence of 2-3 weeks, which suggests it’s a minor issue, but still a bit of a headache for Mikel Arteta. The left side feels a bit thin right now, and there will be increased focus on Eberechi Eze who will be the man to fill the gap initially, I’m sure.

I wonder if the manager might consider other options. Noni Madueke can play out there, but apart from a few games in the early part of his Arsenal tenure, really hasn’t featured on that side. However, his left-footedness could give the team a slightly different dynamic, so perhaps might be worth exploring. I also wouldn’t be totally against using Bukayo Saka out there if needed, leaving Madueke and/or Max Dowman as options for the right hand side. Time for the manager to get a bit creative, perhaps, which might not necessarily be a bad thing even if any injury is unwelcome.

If it is three weeks for Tzolis, he’s probably going to miss the games against Leeds, Lille and Nottingham Forest, with Bayern Munich in the Champions League a likely target for a comeback. No fixtures are easy these days, but they’re relatively kind so hopefully he’s not missed too much, and that in his absence, other players who need to step up and contribute can do exactly that.

Hey look! An entire blog post without mention those entirely guilty cheating wankers. What a time to be alive. Enjoy your Saturday folks, more here tomorrow.

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