Arsenal boss Unai Emery insisted Mesut Ozil’s substitution was pre-planned after hailing the Germany international for ‘playing with spirit’ in the Carabao Cup defeat to Liverpool.
Ozil played a hugely influential role in a thrilling fourth round clash at Anfield, playing a decisive role in two of his side’s five goals before being replaced after 65 minutes.
The playmaker was making just his third start of the season and in his post-match interview, the Gunners boss insisted the plan had always been to replace Ozil to prevent fatigue.
“We decided before the game to only play him for that amount of time.
"I think in that moment it is good to make that decision as we were calm and he did the work very well and we decided it was better to rest him."
Emery went onto suggest however Ozil’s performance will merit an appearance against Wolves on Saturday.
"Yes he will feature. We have a match on Saturday and we will look at the possibility to use him again alongside other players and this is the way sometimes."
