This archive report was first published on 22 June 2020.
Published on June 22, 2020, Arsenal's poor form in the Premier League has been exacerbated by a series of injuries, including a potentially season-ending knee injury to goalkeeper Bernd Leno.
Leno was forced off the pitch on a stretcher after landing awkwardly on his right knee during an aerial challenge with Brighton's Neal Maupay in their 2-1 defeat at the Amex Stadium on Saturday.
The loss was Arsenal's second in three days, following a 3-0 beating by Manchester City, and has left the team in 10th place, six points off Manchester United in fifth.
Qualification for the Champions League now looks a long shot, and manager Mikel Arteta has a growing injury list to deal with in this congested period of matches.
Maupay's winning goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time was met with celebration by the Brighton players, but Arsenal's players took out their frustrations on Maupay, with French midfielder Matteo Guendouzi grabbing him by the throat in an action that sent Maupay to the ground.
Maupay later apologized to Leno and Arteta, saying, 'Some of their players need to learn what is humility, especially one of them. He was talking all game, he was saying bad things. I don't want to say because I could be in trouble. I just said that this is what happens when you talk too much on the pitch.'
Arteta is thinking much longer term after inheriting in December a team that has lost its place among English football's elite in recent years.
‘This is the challenge we all have at the football club, to rebuild to something that is worth the club we are representing,’ Arteta said.
