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Arsenal gave Lucas Torreira a bit of a breather against Burnley, and with Liverpool at the weekend, the situation gets more delicate against Brighton.
It’s hard to prioritize on Premier League match over another, because obviously they are all important, but in Arsenal‘s case, with the injury situation at hand, Unai Emery really has to choose his battles, to go into each match with their most realistic chance of winning without expending necessary resources.
And that’s just in terms of fitness and exhaustion. With Lucas Torreira, it’s another story entirely, because if he picks up another yellow card against Brighton, then he will be suspended for the vital match against Liverpool where he will be so desperately needed.
There was a reason why Torreira started on the bench against Burnley, and I have a sneaking suspicion it was because of this exact situation. The Uruguayan is a fierce competitor and, as we saw, Burnley fancy themselves as the same, even if they really aren’t.
It wasn’t worth the risk. Torreira is going to be needed against Liverpool. But that then prompts the question of what we do going into Brighton.
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The Gunners aren’t exactly on easy street, so it’s not like they can keep sitting one of their best players just to keep him safe for the Liverpool match. Especially given the fact that Granit Xhaka can’t even get into the midfield with all of then injuries in defense. (By the way, please get Granit Xhaka back into the midfield.)
Torreira was a major piece of the Tottenham win. He was an equally major piece of the Liverpool draw. He can rise to the occasion, he has risen to the occasion, he just has to be out there, allowed to do it, which can’t happen if he is suspended.
Needless to say, he is needed against Liverpool, and that being the case, I wonder if this delicate situation against Brighton doesn’t merit keeping Torreira safely stowed away again. If we can’t trust in Guendouzi and Xhaka to win the battle of the midfield at Brighton, then maybe the midfield depth isn’t as great as we thought.
Spoiler alert: It is good enough, so just roll with it.
However we can preserve Torreira for Liverpool, it must be done. So plop him on the bench if need be, and let him stretch his legs in the second half with explicit instructions not to fly into any tackles. Easy enough, right?