Arsenal Vs Manchester United: Is Kieran Tierney in line to start?

New Arsenal signing Kieran Tierney made his first appearance of the season this week. Could he now be in line to start against Manchester United on Monday?

When Arsenal decided to spend £25 million on Kieran Tierney this summer, they knew they would not be feeling the benefit of that investment for a few weeks at the very least. The Celtic left-back underwent a sports hernia operation at the end of last season and was scheduled to miss the first month or so of this campaign. But knowing that the acquisition of a 22-year-old defender was a long-term one, the Gunners agreed to it anyway.

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This week, Tierney made his first appearance for Arsenal, playing 75 minutes in a comfortable Carabao Cup win over Nottingham Forest. He was excellent. Playing aggressively, but in control, he looked sharp, bounding up and down the left flank with real pace and physicality. You would not have guessed it was his first appearance of the season.

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With Tierney’s return, head coach Unai Emery now had a decision to make. Does he persist with incumbent starter Sead Kolasinac, easing Tierney into the line-up or does he thrust the superior player into the team even if he is not as physically ready?

Well, reading between the lines a little, I have a sneaky feeling it might be the latter. Emery was asked about the returns of Tierney and defensive partners Rob Holding and Hector Bellerin in his pre-match press conference prior to Monday night’s trip to Manchester United. This is what he said:

"“It’s amazing news. It was amazing to see the people’s reaction to Rob Holding, Kieran Tierney and Hector Bellerin, who played his first 15 minutes [at the end]. It was a great moment. We can be a better competitive team with them. For us having every player available is the perfect moment. Now we have two injuries with Lacazette and Smith Rowe, and hopefully in a few weeks he can be training with the possibility to play. Really we are really happy with Hector, Rob and Kieran.”"

The crucial sentence is when he mentions the injuries: ‘now we have two injuries with Lacazette and Smith Rowe’. Emery does not mention Tierney, Holding or Bellerin. And that, I believe, is extremely telling.

Now, the latter two are recovering from torn ACLs and have endured the best part of a year-long rehabilitation. One game will not nearly be enough for them to return to full match sharpness, especially not when the next game is a trip to Old Trafford. Emery also confirmed that Bellerin would not be physically ready for Monday night after he played 15 minutes in the week.

But that is not the case with Tierney. He is returning from a lesser injury, he looked extremely sharp in his first outing back, and he has less competition ahead of him. Both Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Calum Chambers are capable at right-back, while Emery trusts David Luiz and Sokratis, even if the fans don’t. Kolasinac, on the other hand, is clearly not well-liked or highly trusted by his manager.

All this leads me to say that I think Tierney might start against United. It is guess work a little, speculation a lot. But if he is ready physically, and I think he might be, Emery has every reason to turn to his best left-back. And given how United have started, it might be an advantage that is worth exploiting for all it is worth.