It was far from a thriller but Mikel Arteta got exactly what he wanted from Wednesday’s match with Luton.
The Spaniard was able to rest key players like Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka without losing any ground in the title race.
Perhaps most importantly of all he was able to ensure that his squad players remain psychologically on board for a crucial part of the season.
“When they have their moment they have to take it,” Arteta said of the five changes he made to the starting XI. “They certainly did today.
They give me every reason every day, regardless of the result. It’s not the right decision or the wrong one because of the result.
If we’d lost the game then it would have been because of the changes. It’s not as simple as that. At the end of you have to do what is right and what they deserve. I was full of confidence that they would respond.”
Emile Smith Rowe was probably the prime example of this. The 23-year-old had played just 91 minutes in 2024 before Wednesday night.
Against Burnley Arsenal had wrapped the game up when Saka scored the third goal in the 47th minute, but Smith Rowe was only given a five-minute cameo.
Then against Sheffield United with the Gunners 5-0 up at half-time, he was overlooked entirely.
You could have forgiven him for being off it against Luton. Instead though, Smith Rowe produced a decisive display, winning the ball back to create Martin Odegaard’s opener, and providing a cutback so impressive that Daiki Hashioka was forced to turn into his own net, ending the game as a contest.
The question now is whether it will be enough for Smith Rowe to keep his starting place. The answer unfortunately for him, is probably not.
Brighton will look to go man-to-man against Arsenal this weekend, and in those types of games Arteta has generally preferred to play Jorginho.
It is inevitable that Rice will come back into the starting line up ahead of him, which means Smith Rowe would unfortunately drop to the bench along with Thomas Partey.
You can probably expect Jakub Kiwior to come back into the team as well given Brighton’s attacking capabilities.
Oleksandr Zinchenko meanwhile has been nursing a calf issue, and starting twice in such quick succession might be too much for him.
Leandro Trossard may keep his spot in the forward line though. Bukayo Saka will undoubtedly be needed for Tuesday’s first leg clash with Bayern Munich, and with his injury struggles Arteta may be inclined to use him from the bench instead of starting.
Meanwhile Kai Havertz is closing in on a two game suspension for accumulating too many yellow cards. With that in mind don’t be too surprised to see Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli come back into the team alongside the Belgian.
