Arsene Wenger to gamble on Key Player’s fitness

Arsene Wenger says he may have to “take a gamble” by playing Laurent Koscielny against Leicester on Saturday but is still hesitant to rush Mesut Ozil and Olivier Giroud back into action.

The three players were rested in the Gunners’ 4-3 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday after returning to training late following Euro 2016, and Koscielny’s absence was keenly felt as Wenger was forced to start two inexperienced centre-backs in Calum Chambers and Rob Holding.

With Per Mertesacker and Gabriel Paulista injured — and Arsenal having failed to bring in a replacement in the transfer window so far — Wenger acknowledged that he may have to put France international Koscielny back in the lineup against the Premier League champions even if he is not fully match fit.

“I will have to take a gamble maybe, but I still have 48 hours to decide that,” Wenger said on Thursday in his prematch news conference. “If I have to take a gamble on one [of the three], it’s certainly on him.”

Wenger was criticised for not rushing Koscielny back for the Liverpool game, especially as Holding had never played a Premier League game before, but he says the short turnaround between the Euro 2016 final and the start of the season forced his hand.

“What can you do? Either you give the player a normal holiday and they are not ready to start the championship, or you don’t give them a holiday and they are mentally and physically jaded,” he said.

“I gave [Koscielny] a holiday at the start because I thought that we have Gabriel and Mertesacker. Unfortunately we lost the two and we were on Sunday of course short of experience.”

Wenger also said Aaron Ramsey and Alex Iwobi, who were both injured against Liverpool, will only need about two to three weeks to recover and will be back after the international break.

Ramsey injured his hamstring, which Wenger said was “not a bad injury,” while Iwobi came off with a thigh strain.

Arsenal will look to continue their recent dominance of Leicester on Saturday, having beaten the Foxes twice last season.

Arsenal have not lost to Leicester in the league since November 1994, but Koscielny’s experience and pace could well be needed against a Leicester attack that includes Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez.

Both of those players were linked with a move to Arsenal this summer, but Vardy signed a new deal in June and Mahrez also committed his future to Leicester this week with a new four-year contract at the King Power Stadium.

Wenger declined to speculate on Vardy’s reasons for rejecting Arsenal’s approach but said “you have to respect the decisions of people,” and he heaped praise on Mahrez, saying the winger “has been outstanding” for Leicester.

“If you look at his numbers, certainly he was in the top three in the league last year,” Wenger said. “He had the best combination of assists and goals scored in the league.”