Arsenal suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Sunday.
The Gunners were beaten 3-2 with Benteke, Zaha and McArthur scoring the goals for Palace, Mesut Ozil and Aubameyang did try and tip the balance into Arsenal’s favour during the match but a series of poor defending ensured Palace pick up all three points.
With Spurs and Man United both losing this weekend, this match was a golden opportunity for Arsenal to move into the third spot on the table and also widen the gap from the other top-four rivals.
Up until now, most of Arsenal’s worries were with their away form but this time it is their home form that has let them down especially in a match which they should have won pretty easily.
But speaking after the game, Arsenal manager Unai Emery has made it clear that he will keep on rotating his squad in order to ensure that his players remain a 100 per cent fit until the end of the season.
“We have had some injuries, like with Aaron Ramsey, and we need to protect the players,” said Emery.
“For example, Xhaka asked to change in the second half against Napoli and could have played (against Palace), but with some risk.
“We need to protect our players and to use other players.
“We are playing with a lot of players and they give us the performance; we lost but we could also have lost with other players on the pitch.”
Emery did change the formation during the second half vs Palace but in all fairness, the manager just does not have the bench strength to rotate his key players.
In midfield, the Arsenal boss does have a number of players but with the likes of Ramsey and Xhaka injured, Emery does not have the luxury of a full rotation.
In defence, the crisis is every worse given both Rob Holding and Hector Bellerin are out for the rest of the season.
