Arsenal boost as insight provided into Granit Xhaka’s ban

 

An insight into the length of ban likely facing Arsenal star Granit Xhaka on the back of his dismissal against Liverpool has been provided on Friday afternoon.

Gunners stand tall despite early red

The name of Swiss international Xhaka of course took its place front and centre in the headlines once more late on Thursday night.

This came owing to the latest moment of madness on the part of the oft-maligned midfielder, during Arsenal’s League Cup semi-final first-leg showdown with Liverpool.

Inside the opening 25 minutes of action at Anfield, Xhaka was given his marching orders, after flooring Reds star Diogo Jota courtesy of a clumsy last-man challenge on the edge of the area:

RED CARD! 🟥

Arsenal’s Granit Xhaka is sent off after a reckless last man challenge on Liverpool’s Diogo Jota pic.twitter.com/n71xpYPzRW

— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) January 13, 2022

Arsenal, for their part, went on to hold firm for the remainder of proceedings, battling to a 0-0 stalemate to keep themselves firmly in the tie ahead of next week’s return leg in north London.

Xhaka, however, was singled out for widespread criticism once more, owing to just the latest in a seemingly never-ending string of costly lapses in judgement on the part of the 29-year-old.

This comes with red cards in the Carabao Cup carrying over into the Premier League, adding ever further to Mikel Arteta’s ongoing crisis in the middle of the park.

Burnley return?

If the latest word stemming from the media on Friday afternoon is anything to go by, however, then it appears as though Arsenal will not be without their midfield metronome for quite as long as had originally been anticipated.

On the back of the action coming to a close at Anfield, it was widely reported that Xhaka was in line for a 4-game ban, owing to his 2nd straight red card of the season.

This would have ruled the Swiss out of meetings with all of Tottenham, Liverpool, Burnley and Wolves.

As per Kaya Kaynak of football.london, however, Arsenal look set to be handed a boost, in the form of Xhaka’s return versus Burnley next weekend.

This comes after confirmation was forthcoming that the former Borussia Monchengladbach man’s dismissal on Thursday came due to the denial of a goalscoring opportunity, rather than serious foul play:

Had it confirmed to me that Granit Xhaka was sent off last night for denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity. He will therefore miss #AFC’s next 2 games vs Spurs and Liverpool rather than 4. Would’ve been 1 but as this is his second red of the season he misses an extra game. pic.twitter.com/ESkHuQKQLV

— Kaya Kaynak (@kayakaynak97) January 14, 2022

 

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