Arsenal: 5 standout moments from international break

And breathe. Whether you’re one who enjoys the flurry of international fixtures or not, it’s an agreeable point that going this long without watching Arsenal is anything but fun.

16 days will separate their matches between Aston Villa and Crystal Palace, with Monday’s clash at Selhurst Park the last on the fixture list for matchday 31. That means more catching up to do, again, in the quest for top four.

Having been a side with but three players involved in the European Championships, Arsenal are now home to many more senior internationals from all over the world. Four Englishman were called up to the squad, while there were representatives from South America, Africa and, under normal circumstances, Asia too.

The final block of friendlies and World Cup qualifiers before the end of the season is now all-but complete. It’s full steam ahead on the Premier League, with ten juicy encounters for Arsenal to get their teeth sunk into.

Arsenal: 5 standout moments from international break as Tierney, Martinelli, Saliba, Pepe, Partey & more have fruitful spells with their countries

Many of the players did get to enjoy themselves over this break, however. Mikel Arteta has plenty of first team stars in action and there were a host of standout moments to enjoy from an Arsenal perspective.

For once, it was actually a relatively enjoyable international break.

Here are top five moments from across a range of fixtures.

William Saliba & Gabriel Martinelli International Debuts

Arsenal had three players aged 20 or younger who were called up to their senior squads during this break.

(Saliba turned 21 just after his call-up so it sort of counts)

And not just three squads, either. This was England, Brazil, and France. Really, who exciting is that? Three powerhouses on the international stage and Arsenal have three kids playing for their them.

An injury to Benjamin Pavard saw William Saliba earn his first international recognition, while Gabriel Martinelli was called up on account of him being absolutely magnificent over the past few months. Bukayo Saka, meanwhile, is a regular now.

But these weren’t just call-ups, as Saliba did come on with 32 minutes to go in France’s 2-1 win over Ivory Coast and then followed that up with the full 90 minutes in a thumping 5-0 win over South Africa. His country didn’t concede a goal with him on the pitch.

Arsenal’s young Brazilian got his first taste of senior action (aside from the Olympics) when he came on for 15 minutes of his nation’s 4-0 win World Cup qualifying win over Chile. That was followed up with another 4-0 win, this time over Bolivia, where Martinelli got a longer run-out of 35 minutes.

He nearly scored THIS goal. Unlucky, Gabi.

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