What happened?
The Athletic understands that Aubameyang reported late for the north London derby at The Emirates.
This is not the first time that the Arsenal captain has reported late, with Arteta deciding to drop him to the bench for Sunday’s game.
Aubameyang was disciplined earlier in the season for missing a COVID-19 test before a European trip, as previously reported by The Athletic, while in February he was “reminded of his responsibilities” by the club for breaching COVID-19 regulations to get a tattoo.
What did Arteta say?
Ahead of the match Arteta confirmed that Aubameyang had been dropped to the bench as a punishment, but did not say why he had disciplined his club captain.
“He was going to start the game but we had a disciplinary issue,” Arteta told Sky Sports.
“We have drawn the line and we move on. We keep it internal.”
When pressed on whether the disciplinary breach had come as a blow, Arteta replied: “We have other players who are willing.”
What about Tottenham?
Unlike Arteta, Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho was able to name his star striker in his starting XI. Harry Kane took a knock to his knee having scored twice in the Europa League win over Dinamo Zagreb on Thursday night, but appears to have recovered from the injury.
Mourinho made a total of six changes from the 2-0 midweek win, with Matt Doherty, Toby Alderweireld, Sergio Reguilon, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Lucas Moura and Gareth Bale all brought in.
What are the teams?
Arsenal: Leno, Cedric, Luiz, Gabriel, Tierney, Thomas, Smith-Rowe, Saka, Odegaard, Xhaka, Lacazette.
Subs: Bellerin, Ceballos, Willian, Aubameyang, Holding, Pepe, Chambers, Elneny, Ryan.
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Doherty, Sanchez, Alderweireld, Reguilon, Ndombele, Hojbjerg, Bale, Lucas Moura, Son, Kane.
Subs: Winks, Lamela, Hart, Dier, Sissoko, Alli, Aurier, Davies, Vinicius.
(Photo: Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
