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Having already left Mesut Ozil out on two occasions this season, it appears that Unai Emery is not fussed about upsetting the big boys at Arsenal.
The 47-year-old boss dropped the German for a game against West Ham earlier in the season due to ‘illness’, although he was spotted amongst his teammates prior to kick-off. Also, Ozil didn’t make it off the bench against Bournemouth due to the ‘physicality’ and ‘intensity’ that the Cherries bought to the match, as Emery later revealed.
Tactical or personal?
Well, there have been rumours of a training ground bust-up between the pair, but let’s not get into that. The Spaniard’s reason for dropping the former Real Madrid playmaker are more than valid – more often than not, Ozil goes missing in the big games and does struggle to keep up with intense, high-pressure football.
Spurs will provide a far more physical and intense battle than Bournemouth did last time out, so if Emery saw fit to leave the 30-year-old out on that occasion, what has changed in two weeks’ time?
Their alleged personal differences aside, the German should not be involved against Spurs if Arsenal want to get anything out of the game.
Why should he be left out?
Mauricio Pochettino will most likely deploy Eric Dier and Moussa Sissoko in midfield, who, with all due respect to their footballing abilities, are perhaps slightly more reliant on their physical attributes.
Whereas Ozil is the polar opposite of that, in a heated derby game such as this one, sometimes the physical aspect prospers over footballing guile. If he starts, it is more than likely that Arsenal’s number 10 will be muscled out of the game.
Behind Dier and Sissoko are Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld. Ahead of them are Harry Kane and Dele Alli; there are physical powerhouses all over the pitch for Spurs, a factor which suggests that all roads lead to Ozil being drowned out of the game.
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