Manuel Almunia out of Arsenal game
Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia will not play any part in the club’s trip to face Partizan Belgrade in the Champions League.
The Arsenal player has picked up an elbow injury that will rule him out of the game. The Spaniard will be replaced by Lukasz Fabianski.
Fabianski played in the Carling Cup match which Arsenal won 4-1 at Tottenham Hotspur. However, Fabianski was at fault for the goal, which was a weak effort by Robbie Keane that seemed to take the Polish goalkeeper off guard.
Manager Arsene Wenger has insisted that Almunia would not have been replaced had he been fit for the match against Belgrade.
Almunia conceded three goals in Arsenal’s defeat against West Brom and a number of critics and analysts blamed Almunia for the defeat.
However, Wenger defend his player. "Even if people think Manuel made a mistake on the second goal, we made a few before that as well as a team, so we all have to stand up for what happened. Manuel is very low, he was disappointed to have lost the game. Everyone
felt the same, because we had a good opportunity and we didn't take it.”
Wenger added, "But we are a good side and we will bounce back and I think we will have a good game in Belgrade."
Arsenal have a number of other injury concerns ahead of the Belgrade match. Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott will all miss the game. Kieran Gibbs will undergo a fitness test and Wenger will not have wanted his first choice goalkeeper Almunia
out for what could prove to be a tricky away Champions League game.
Arsenal beat FC Braga by six goals to nil in the first game of their Champions League campaign and will be expecting to progress from the group.
Wenger believes that Fabianski will be an able deputy in goal as Arsenal seek to take another three points against Belgrade.
Tags: