Mikel Arteta Hopeful Of Having Kieran Tierney For Manchester City Tie

Mikel Arteta badly wants Kieran Tierney in the starting XI that faces Manchester City on Saturday.

Due to his international teammate, Stuart Armstrong testing positive for COVID-19, Tierney has been forced to isolate.

This was despite the left-back following all guidelines when spending time together with his international colleagues. The Scottish government refused to give him a clear pass but are also facing an appeal from Arsenal.

Asked if Tierney will be available, Arteta said, “I hope so. This is getting very complicated when you are sending players abroad and obviously you lose control.

“Some authorities have different regulations to the actual ones in the Premier League. We are still having some discussions with the authorities and hopefully, we will know more this afternoon.”

Many fans are disgruntled with international football impeeding into the regular season when the pandemic is still very much alive. The excessive travel and intermingling of players from different corners are only causing the virus to spread.

Tierney’s absence will be huge in Arsenal tackling one of England’s most dominant teams at the Etihad. Arteta’s men have a poor record against Manchester City away from home, winning their last in 2015.