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Luton boss Rob Edwards didn’t find it disrespectful in the slightest the amount of changes made by Arsenal ahead of their 2-0 victory over the Hatters on Wednesday night that strengthened the hosts’ push for the Premier League title.
When the team news was announced, Gunners chief Mikel Arteta opted to make five alterations from the side who had played out a goalless draw with championship rivals Manchester City on Sunday, as dropping to the bench were £100m summer signing Declan Rice, plus Gabriel Jesus, Jakub Kiwior and Jorginho with England star Bukayo Saka rested completely.
Their replacements were still pretty good though, Belgian international Leandro Trossard, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Thomas Partey, the latter starting a first game since August having suffered a thigh injury. They were joined by Reiss Nelson, beginning his first league game of the season and first in the Premier League since July 2020, plus Emile Smith Rowe, making just his third start of the season.
With Arsenal’s upcoming games seeing them host Brighton and visit Aston Villa, also playing Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, who possess a certain Harry Kane, in their two-legged Champions League quarter-final, it was something that Edwards had expected to happen, as he said: “We anticipated one or two, we thought there’d be a couple of changes there, and let’s look at this, they’re playing us and we’re severely depleted at the moment.
