Despite the ability he’s already shown in an Arsenal shirt, Mikel Arteta decided to leave Eberechi Eze on the bench from the start against Manchester City.

Instead of starting Eberechi Eze or even Gabriel Martinelli on the left, the Arsenal manager opted for Leandro Trossard.

Trossard hadn’t started a Premier League game this season prior, he’s mainly been limited to cameos from the bench.

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However, in a game of such magnitude, Arteta decided to pick the Belgian ahead of Eze, a decision that might have confused one or two Arsenal fans.

Ian Wright criticised Arteta’s team selection following full-time and it eventually seemed clear that the Spaniard had got it wrong.

That being said, when speaking on ‘The Rest Is Football’ podcast, Micah Richards presented his theory as to why Eze was left out of the starting XI.

Richards recognised that everyone was ‘surprised’ by Arteta’s decision to leave Eze and Martinelli out.

But when analysing Eze’s efforts in the Champions League in midweek, Richards thought he knew why the England international wasn’t deemed ready to face City.

Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images

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