"Match made for him and Arteta leaves him out" - Arsenal fans surprised as star man left out of XI for Tottenham clash

Arsenal fans are seemingly surprised with Mikel Arteta's decision to leave Gabriel Martinelli out of the starting XI in the North London derby on Wednesday, January 15. The Gunners have decided to go with Leandro Trossard and Raheem Sterling on either flank for the clash against Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates Stadium.

This call seems to have sparked a shocked reaction from fans, given Martinelli's pace and ability to exploit space behind the opposition's defense. It is highly possible that he would've had the opportunity to do exactly that with Spurs likely to employ a high defensive line.

Pointing this out, one fan wrote on X (formerly Twitter):

"Surely Martinelli should’ve started, spurs leave a lot of space behind their defence."

Another tweeted:

"This is a match made for Martinelli and Arteta leaves him out."

Most Arsenal fans seemed to be united in opinion with regard to Arteta's decision to leave Martinelli out of the XI.

"Why is martinelli not starting man", @arsenal_deep wrote.

This is a Martinelli game if I’ve ever seen one, what on earth", @zpatrick0 added.

Martinelli hasn't been in the best form this season despite getting the nod ahead of Trossard on the left wing early in the campaign. The Brazilian has made 28 appearances across competitions, bagging six goals and two assists. Another factor for dropping Martinelli could be the fact that he's looked rather uncomfortable while operating on the right in Bukayo Saka's absence.

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Riccardo Calafiori fails to make Arsenal squad for North London derby

Riccardo Calafiori

Arsenal left-back Riccardo Calafiori has seemingly failed to recover from injury ahead of the North London derby. Mikel Arteta said ahead of this tie about the Italian's fitness (via the club's official website):

"His thing is not much, but again, we need another day or two. We’ve been playing every three days and 24 hours becomes really important because they are not long-term injuries, in that case for example. We will have more understanding this afternoon."

Despite positive comments, the Italy international will miss consecutive matches across competitions for the Gunners. He was absent for the third-round FA Cup defeat on penalties to Manchester United on Sunday, January 12.

Calafiori's season has been stop-start, largely due to fitness issues, which have seen him miss 13 games for club and country. Arsenal's 18-year-old star Miles Lewis-Skelly, who has impressed this campaign will play in the left-back slot against Spurs.