Mikel Arteta issues response to Rwanda president’s ‘mediocre’ Arsenal comments after Brentford loss
Positive tests forced them to miss the curtain-raiser at Brentford, which ended 2-0 to the newly-promoted hosts. Lacazette had not trained at all in the run up to the Chelsea game, Arteta revealed, although Aubameyang was able to join his colleagues on Thursday.
Willian and reserve goalkeeper Alex Runarsson had also tested positive before the Brentford game, which saw 20-year-old striker Folarin Balogun hastily handed a Premier League debut.
Defeat to opponents who had last played in the top flight in 1947 inevitably saw a whole heap of criticism come Arteta’s way, with the Spaniard already having been installed as the bookmakers’ choice as the Premier League manager most likely to be the first to lose his job this term.
