Unai Emery supposedly leaves Xhaka and two players in London ahead of today’s game

The Arsenal team traveled to Manchester on Saturday and arrived at night ahead of Sunday’s epic clash between them and Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium. Arsenal boss Unai Emery has chosen his best squad for this match but reports claim that he has left three Arsenal players in London even though they were fit.

The Arsenal squad trained on Friday and Saturday morning, and everyone saw how most of the players took part in the training session except those that have long-term injuries like Rob Holding, Danny Welbeck, Hector Bellerin and Sokratis Papastathopoulos. A report by the Manchester Evening News claims that Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Granit Xhaka and Ainsley Maitland-Niles were not spotted leaving the Arsenal bus as it checked in at the hotel where the squad spent the night.

It could be pretty understandable if Unai Emery decided not to quickly use Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Henrikh Mkhitaryan because these two just came back from an injury and risking them in a big match like this one will probably be a bad idea. But what’s more surprising is why would Unai Emery leave Granit Xhaka at home yet the gunners will be outclassed in the midfield if they don’t have a strong person there like the Swiss international.

There’s also a possibility that the three players that weren’t seen at the hotel could have not traveled with the team and rather used other means at a later time when the reporters have left. Not to forget, Granit Xhaka was an unused substitute In Arsenal’s match against Cardiff City on Tuesday so if he is really not in the squad to face Manchester City, then this confirms that Unai Emery could have lost faith in him.