“We’re losing”, “Should be the one starting” – Arsenal fans unhappy with 28-year-old not being in line-up to face Everton

Arsenal fans wanted to see Leandro Trossard handed a start in their clash with Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday (February 4). Some fear that the Gunners may lose just their second league game of the season due to the Belgian being on the bench.

Trossard arrived at the Emirates from Brighton & Hove Albion in January for £27 million. He has already bedded into Mikel Arteta's side easily, featuring in two games and impressing. He joined the Premier League leaders after registering seven goals and three assists in 17 appearances for the Seagulls.

However, he does not start for Arsenal against a struggling Everton side who will be desperate to get their campaign back on track under new manager Sean Dyche. The Gunners can expect a raucous crowd at Goodison.

Arteta has decided to start Aaron Ramsdale in goal, with the English shot-stopper keeping ten clean sheets this term. Meanwhile, Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes and Takehiro Tomiyasu are in defence.

The familiar midfield trio of Thomas Partey, Granit Xhaka and Martin Odegaard, who have all been standout performers for the Gunners this campaign, all start. Partey's selection has allayed fears over his fitness after he had suffered a knock in the 1-0 FA Cup defeat to Manchester City.

Arteta has selected Eddie Nketiah, Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka in attack. The trio were instrumental in the north Londoners' brilliant 3-2 win over Manchester United last time out in the league.

A strong lineup looks to pour more misery on Everton. However, Arsenal fans were hoping to see Trossard make his first start for the club in the Premier League.

Here's how they reacted on Twitter to his omission for the clash with the Toffees:

Jorginho will have to make Arsenal debut from bench

Jorginho joined Arsenal from Chelsea on transfer deadline day for £10 million. The Gunners have bolstered their midfield with the signing of the experienced Italian. He featured 25 times across competitions for the Blues this season, scoring three goals.

Some expected the former Napoli man to make his debut as a starter, as Partey's availability was uncertain. Arteta hinted that the Ghanian may not be fit enough for the Everton game (via football.london):

However, Partey has made the team and will start, with Jorginho selected on the bench. The Italian's first appearance for the Gunners will likely come as a substitute.

About the author

Matthew is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who has been covering news, rumors and match reports for close to 3 years. Learning creative writing from University of Essex, he combined his skills and passion for football take up writing for the sport professionally.

Matthew always strives to go beyond a story and offer unique and lesser-known insights, while maintaining an unbiased tone in his articles. His reporting exploits at the company have helped him gain a humungous readership of 25 million, with one of his articles raking in a whopping 724,000 reads.

A Manchester United fan since childhood, Matthew admired Sir Alex Ferguson for his loyalty and brave coaching style. His favorite footballer is Thierry Henry, believing the Frenchman to be uniquely talented and charismatic. An ardent Three Lions fan, England's penalty shootout win over Colombia in 2018 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment of all time, and he believes that Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe will have a Ballon d’Or duopoly after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

He also follows his local EFL League Two clubs AFC Wimbledon and Sutton United, and spends his free time watching and writing about professional wrestling. He also likes to work out, watch movies and go for night outs.

Know More