Martinelli the latest Interlull injury worry

Morning.

If you’ve wondered how next an Arsenal player is going to get sent off in a way you’ve never seen for any other player, I dreamed this morning that we were in a European final. The game kicked off, and one of the ball-boys ran onto the pitch to compete for a header by the touchline. At the same time, Kai Havertz went to kick the ball, and booted the pitch invader in the back.

The ball-boy dived like Michael Owen, wailing at the same time, and the referee gave Havertz a red card. In the first minute! I was furious. I immediately went to write a big long blog post about how I’m done with football now, that was my tipping point, but when I read it back it was a recipe for a tomato sauce to have with pasta. That made me more furious. Anyway, is this dream nonsense or a premonition? Time will tell.

There’s some injury news today regarding Gabriel Martinelli, via TNT Sports Brazil. It reads (caps theirs):

EXCLUSIVE! MARTINELLI ARRIVES AT THE HOTEL ACCOMPANIED BY THE NATIONAL TEAM DOCTOR, AFTER AN EXAM! The striker felt discomfort in his tendon, and left to undergo an exam, after training this Sunday. At first it doesn’t seem serious, but the player is awaiting the results.

Not terribly specific, but a little more digging suggests it’s a calf problem, and he’s a doubt for Brazil’s game against Peru in the early hours of Wednesday morning. With Bukayo Saka potentially out of action for the game against Bournemouth this coming weekend, it’d be a blow if Martinelli was out too. Untimely as well, given he’d rediscovered some form in the final third with 2 goals and 2 assists in the last 3 games.

You can imagine Mikel Arteta waking up this morning, checking his phone, and then making this face at the breakfast table:

First Havertz gets sent off for kicking a ball-boy, now this. Let’s just keep fingers crossed it’s nothing too serious, but the Interlulls have not been kind to us so far this season, and with one more to come next month, we’ve got to hope there are no more issues to deal with.

Declan Rice was in action last night for England as they beat Finland 3-1. He was on the scoresheet too, tucking it away nicely at the near post after good work from Ollie Watkins. He makes up a lot of ground too, because he’s not even in shot when the Villa man picks up the ball near the halfway line, so fair play for finding that energy in the 84th minute. Now, get him home, into the armchair, and a couple of days rest before we ask him to do the same for us.

Tonight, William Saliba and Leandro Trossard come up against each other as Belgium host France, while Riccardo Calafiori is likely to be in action for Italy. The last couple of players involved play tomorrow, including the Gabriels for Brazil, but we’ll wait for a Martinelli update in the meantime.

Beyond that, not a lot going on right now, but we do have a brand new Arsecast Extra for you below, so happy listening if you haven’t had a chance already. Bye for now.

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