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Football London
Football London
Sport
George Smith

Arsenal fans cannot believe what Mikel Arteta has done to Reiss Nelson ahead of Leicester trip

Arsenal will be aiming to build on Thursday night's heroic UEFA Europa League comeback against Benfica when they travel to the King Power Stadium to face Leicester City on Sunday lunchtime.

Having found themselves on the brink of being knocked out of the competition, captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang once again proved himself to be Arsenal's knight in shinning armour, heading home an 87th minute winner to seal a 3-2 win on the night and a 4-3 win on aggregate.

The Gunners' reward for getting the better of the Portuguese outfit is a last-16 tussle with Olympiakos, with the two sides poised to meet for the second season in succession in the Europa League.

Fatigue no excuse for Arsenal vs Leicester

But before Arsenal can even begin to think about continuing their aspirations of lifting the Europa League title come May, they need to try and get their Premier League campaign back on track. Mikel Arteta's side have lost three of their last four league outings, including back-to-back away defeats at the hands of both Wolverhampton Wanderers and Aston Villa.

With that in mind, Arsenal will most probably not be looking forward to another visit to the Midlands.

Regardless of the outcome of the clash between the Gunners and Brendan Rodgers' high flying Foxes, Arsenal's starting line-up will probably be one of the most intriguing of the season so far. Taking into account that the Gunners only played on Thursday evening and had to travel back home from Greece, it is almost certain that Arteta will have to make changes, whether it is to combat any knocks or general tiredness.

However, one player who is unlikely to play any part at the King Power Stadium is winger Reiss Nelson as he was part of the Under-23s side that lost 4-0 to Liverpool on Saturday.

The former Hoffenheim loanee, who was heavily linked with leaving Arsenal on loan once again during the latter stages of the January transfer window, started against the Reds in the Premier League 2, as they suffered a third successive defeat.

However, it was not the result that has left some of the Gunners' fan base angry, it was the inclusion of Nelson within the team, with many Gunners supporters struggling to work out why the winger is once again playing with the club's U23 side.

Below, football.london has taken a close look at what some Arsenal fans have had to say on social media.

As you can see from the opinions above, some Arsenal fans have compared Nelson's situation with other young players at Arsenal, pointing to William Saliba's January exit and Gabriel Martinelli's struggles for minutes on the pitch on a regular basis as examples.

As well as that, one Gunners fan believes what happens with Nelson could have a knock-on effect on the club's chances of keeping hold of talented youngster Folarin Balogun, whose contract expires at the Emirates Stadium in just a few months time.

This season, Nelson has made just nine appearances for the Arsenal first-team in all competitions.

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