Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta COVID positive for 2nd time, to miss Man City game

Arsenal
manager Mikel Arteta has tested positive for COVID-19 for a second time and
will miss Saturday’s Premier League clash against Manchester City, the club has
confirmed. Arteta first contracted the infection in March 2020 at the advent of
the pandemic, causing English football to shut down.

“Mikel
Arteta will miss our match against Manchester City on New Year’s Day after
testing positive for COVID-19. Mikel is isolating in line with Government
guidelines and we wish him well,” a club statement read.

The
39-year-old Spaniard’s assistants Albert Stuivenberg and Steve Round will take
charge against league leaders City at the Emirates.

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COVID concerns
have been growing in recent times with a slew of games being postponed over
COVID outbreaks, with Arsenal missing Calum Chambers, Cedric Soares, Ainsley
Maitland-Niles and Takehiro Tomiyasu for the 5-0 win against Norwich City on
Boxing Day.  

Arsenal
also had their Tuesday fixture against Wolverhampton Wanderers cancelled due to
the Midlands club reporting a number of cases.

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Aston Villa
and Crystal Palace managers Steven Gerrard and Patrick Viera have also missed
matches over the holiday period due to positive tests.

Arteta is
still expected to conduct his Thursday press conference. “This is really
disappointing,” the Spaniard told the BBC. “I took the test after feeling
poorly. I will be at work as soon as I’m allowed.”

Arsenal
have closed the London Colney training ground and staff members who were in
close contact with Arteta will now self-isolate.

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Bouncing
back from a disappointing start to the league campaign, that saw them lose
three games in a row, North London side are currently fourth in the table having
won their last games in all competitions.

England and
Wales reported nearly 130,000 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, amid a record surge
in infections driven by the Omicron variant.