Arsenal: Aaron Ramsey fitness a nervy balancing act

Aaron Ramsey is facing a late fitness test ahead of Sunday’s Carabao Cup final against Manchester City. Such is his importance to the Arsenal team, it is a nervous balance indeed.

Arsenal are building up to the biggest game of the season thus far. Few would have thought, at this point in the year, that such a game would come in the Carabao Cup, formerly the League Cup. But that is the state of the Gunners’ season: With their slumps in the Premier League, their third-round exit from the FA Cup, and the lack of Champions League football, the chance to win a trophy now comes first.

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Unfortunately, that chance is not an easy one. Arsene Wenger leads his side to Wembley, a stadium that has been a happy one in recent years, to face perhaps the best team of the Premier League era: Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. And the bad news does not end there.

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Wenger may have to sculpt his team without the heartbeat of his midfield: the bombarding, marauding, relentless Aaron Ramsey. There are growing reports that the Welshman will be unavailable for selection for Sunday’s final, with Wenger himself admitting that he may not be ready. Speaking ahead of Thursday night’s welcoming of FK Ostersund to the Emirates, Wenger ruled Ramsey out of the midweek tie but admitted that he harbours hope he will be fit for the weekend:

"“Ramsey is not in the squad for tomorrow. He had a good training session but he’s not available for tomorrow. We will see how his evolution goes between now and Sunday. I don’t rule him out. It depends how well he can improve the intensity of training.”"

Ramsey, until his hamstring injury earlier in the year, was enjoying possibly his best season in an Arsenal shirt. Even overlooking his hat-trick against Everton during his return, the Welshman has had a direct hand in nine Premier League goals (three goals and six assists) in just 1200 minutes. Only once has he had a season in which he has a greater minutes-to-goal-involvement ratio, the 2013/14 year in which his talent blossomed.

Even his more damning detractors would struggle to argue that he has not at least been beneficial to the progress of the team this season. No player has had a greater direct involvement in league goals this season. His absence on Sunday would certainly be hard felt, both in reference to his attacking production and his overall influence, his energy, his athleticism, his intelligence, with and without the ball. But that is exactly what Wenger may have to deal with.

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And that is worrying. Arsenal’s chances of challenging the might of City are resting on the fitness of an oft-injured and notoriously brittle midfielder, and the tactical astuteness of a traditionally naive manager to adapt without his cornerstone. Not good.