As Granit Xhaka issues apology, Mikel Arteta speaks on possibility of Tottenham clash being postponed

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has provided an insight into the chances of the club’s upcoming derby showdown with Tottenham Hotspur being postponed.

Liverpool fail to take advantage of Xhaka’s dismissal

Arteta, of course, guided his troops back into action a short time ago.

The Gunners made the trip to Anfield, hopeful of taking a step towards the finale of the Carabao Cup after seeing their FA Cup plans fall apart at the first hurdle versus Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

And though, when all was said and done, Arsenal didn’t manage to return to winning ways, the north Londoners did provide an impressive account of themselves.

Upon Granit Xhaka being given his marching orders midway through the first-half on Merseyside, all hope of a positive result appeared to have been lost:

RED CARD! 🟥

Arsenal’s Granit Xhaka is sent off after a reckless last man challenge on Liverpool’s Diogo Jota pic.twitter.com/n71xpYPzRW

— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) January 13, 2022

A stellar defensive display over the course of the ensuing hour+, however, ensured that Arsenal ultimately came away from the clash with a deserved 0-0 stalemate, meaning it remains all to play for ahead of next week’s return leg at the Emirates.

‘It’s a possibility’

Despite his side, in the end, having managed to hang on for a draw, though, the aforementioned Xhaka has nevertheless deemed it necessary to take to social media post-match, to issue a public apology to all associated with Arsenal.

In a post on his official Instagram account, the Swiss international unveiled the following message:

‘I want to apologise to everyone. I am so proud of my team and the spirit that they showed to keep a clean sheet tonight.’

Also noteworthy when it comes to post-match developments at Anfield were the latest comments on the part of Mikel Arteta, surrounding the chances of this weekend’s highly-anticipated North London Derby being called off.

This comes with Arsenal’s personnel crisis have been added to once more this evening, owing to Xhaka’s impending suspension and an injury picked up by Cedric Soares.

In turn, Arteta went on to admit that the possibility of Sunday’s clash at the Tottenham Hotpur Stadium being postponed cannot be ruled out:

Arteta to @sr_collings when asked whether there’s a possibility the NLD could be called off:

“I don’t know. It’s a possibility in every game from our side & from the opponent’s side because of the amount of issues that everybody is having and because it’s happening every week.”

— Charles Watts (@charles_watts) January 13, 2022

The Gunners boss concluded:

[continued]

“But we try to prepare for games thinking we are going to play. If something happens along the way, it is what it is.”

— Charles Watts (@charles_watts) January 13, 2022

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Premier League table

#	Team	MP	D	P
1	Manchester City	21	40	53
2	Chelsea FC	21	29	43
3	Liverpool FC	20	34	42
4	West Ham United	21	12	37
5	Arsenal FC	20	8	35
6	Tottenham Hotspur	18	3	33
7	Manchester United	19	3	31
8	Wolverhampton Wanderers	19	0	28
9	Brighton & Hove Albion	19	0	27
10	Leicester City	18	-2	25
11	Southampton FC	20	-6	24
12	Crystal Palace	20	-1	23
13	Brentford FC	20	-6	23
14	Aston Villa	19	-5	22
15	Everton FC	18	-9	19
16	Leeds United	19	-16	19
17	Watford FC	18	-14	13
18	Burnley FC	17	-11	11
19	Newcastle United	19	-23	11
20	Norwich City	20	-36	10

Player	Team	Goals
Salah, Mohamed	Liverpool FC	16
Jota, Diogo	Liverpool FC	10
Vardy, Jamie	Leicester City	9
Dennis, Emmanuel	Watford FC	8
Antonio, Michail	West Ham United	8
Ronaldo, Cristiano	Manchester United	8
Son, Heung Min	Tottenham Hotspur	8
Smith-Rowe, Emile	Arsenal FC	8
Mane, Sadio	Liverpool FC	8
Raphinha	Leeds United	8
Mount, Mason	Chelsea FC	7
Sterling, Raheem	Manchester City	7
Maupay, Neal	Brighton & Hove Albion	7
Silva, Bernardo	Manchester City	7
Mahrez, Riyad	Manchester City	6
Saka, Bukayo	Arsenal FC	6
Gallagher, Conor	Crystal Palace	6
Jorginho	Chelsea FC	6
Wilson, Callum	Newcastle United	6
Cornet, Maxwel	Burnley FC	6

Player	Team	Red Cards	Yellow Cards
Salisu, Mohammed	Southampton FC	0	6
Dennis, Emmanuel	Watford FC	0	6
Tarkowski, James	Burnley FC	0	6
Laporte, Aymeric	Manchester City	1	5
Neves, Ruben	Wolverhampton Wanderers	0	6
Bissouma, Yves	Brighton & Hove Albion	0	6
Skipp, Oliver	Tottenham Hotspur	0	6
James, Reece	Chelsea FC	1	4
Fernandes, Bruno	Manchester United	0	5
Silva, Bernardo	Manchester City	0	5
Pogba, Paul	Manchester United	1	4
Cancelo, Joao	Manchester City	0	5
Robertson, Andy	Liverpool FC	1	4
Toney, Ivan	Brentford FC	0	5
McGinn, John	Aston Villa	0	5
Canos, Sergi	Brentford FC	0	5
Rice, Declan	West Ham United	0	5
Richarlison	Everton FC	0	5
Rodri	Manchester City	0	5
Ritchie, Matt	Newcastle United	0	5

Player	Team	Assists
Alexander-Arnold, Trent	Liverpool FC	9
Salah, Mohamed	Liverpool FC	8
Bowen, Jarrod	West Ham United	7
Jesus, Gabriel	Manchester City	7
Pogba, Paul	Manchester United	7
Dennis, Emmanuel	Watford FC	5
Mount, Mason	Chelsea FC	5
James, Reece	Chelsea FC	5
Kovacic, Mateo	Chelsea FC	5
Cancelo, Joao	Manchester City	5
Robertson, Andy	Liverpool FC	5
Antonio, Michail	West Ham United	4
Mahrez, Riyad	Manchester City	4
Saka, Bukayo	Arsenal FC	4
Benrahma, Said	West Ham United	4
Doucoure, Abdoulaye	Everton FC	4
Rice, Declan	West Ham United	4
Redmond, Nathan	Southampton FC	4
Ronaldo, Cristiano	Manchester United	3
Son, Heung Min	Tottenham Hotspur	3