Each Arsenal’s Kai Havertz and Declan Rice will probably be strolling a tightrope throughout Tuesday night time’s Champions League quarter-final first-leg towards Bayern Munich.
The 2 groups meet on the Emirates, the place it will likely be solely Gunners followers in attendance after Bayern followers have been banned from attending by UEFA for throwing fireworks onto the pitch towards Lazio within the final spherical. On account of their effective kind within the league, Arsenal are favourites coming into the conflict, however development to the final 4 is unlikely to be simple.
One headache for Gunners boss Mikel Arteta earlier than kick-off stems from the truth that two of his most essential gamers in Havertz and Rice are each one yellow card away from suspension. If both of the 2 summer time signings are cautioned on Tuesday night time, they are going to be banned from that includes within the second leg on the Allianz Enviornment.
A troublesome process awaits Arsenal over each legs and the thought of going to the house of the German giants with out Havertz and Rice is more likely to fill some Gunners followers with concern. Nonetheless, Bayern are confronted with an analogous downside themselves.
Have been both of Alphonso Davies or Leon Goretzka to choose up yellow playing cards, then they too could be out of motion for the return leg on March 17. It is very important word that every one yellow playing cards accrued over the course of the competitors are wiped after the quarter-final stage, to stop gamers lacking the ultimate by way of too many yellow playing cards.
Yellow playing cards have been an issue for Havertz particularly this time period, in what has been an in any other case spectacular debut marketing campaign for the Gunners. The Germany worldwide has eight yellow playing cards to his identify within the Premier League, 11 in all competitions.
He managed to keep away from a reserving through the 3-0 win away at Brighton on Saturday, which means he can’t now serve a suspension within the league for too many cautions. Nonetheless, Arteta did concede he was shocked by Havertz’s disciplinary report.
Talking earlier than Saturday’s conflict on the Amex, the Arsenal boss was requested if Havertz’s yellow card tally got here as a shock and he admitted: “Yeah. Should you informed me one other participant, possibly not, however with him yeah.
“I must return and have a look at these yellow playing cards, but when they’re yellow playing cards then we’ll have to enhance as a result of we don’t need our gamers having that many as a result of we’re the most effective within the league for that. It’s one thing to enhance.”
