Arsenal vs Sunderland: 4 players fighting to start in EFL Cup

2. Nicolas Pepe

When you’re being left on the bench in favour of a player four years your junior who has rejected multiple contracts and is being fielded out of position, then your time might up.

With a whole 12 minutes of Premier League action across the previous ten matches, whether one feels Nicolas Pepe not playing is justified or not (it is), it’s still a dreadful indictment of the club’s previous dealings where the £72m record signing can’t get a sniff.

"“It’s with all the players that they are not having a lot of minutes,” Arteta said of Pepe’s situation. “He needs more opportunities to show what he can do and in the last games he hasn’t had them. I understand but again I have to try to make the decision based on what I see every day. “Nico is really willing to help the team. The reality is that in the position that he’s playing, Bukayo is there and has been fantastic.”"

All fans will be hoping that Tuesday doesn’t call for Saka, in which case Pepe has every chance to be involved. Then again, does he? Nketiah is selected ahead of him in the team and Arteta may want one or two of his regulars involved, perhaps just from the start, so he can get the win wrapped up early.

Pepe is talented enough to rip teams like Sunderland apart. It’s no disrespect to them, but he has excellent ability in him that should sing in matches like these. He’ll be gunning for a start because the younger players are leaving him with nothing else.

This is as much as fans will see of him, perhaps until his contract expires.

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