Arsenal outcast may be handed Man Utd chance if Mikel Arteta backtracks
Arsenal could bring Gabriel back into the fold for Sunday's clash with Manchester United after losing Thomas Partey to injury.
Partey, who has been deputising on the right of the back four so far this term, is facing a couple of weeks on the sidelines sideline him. With Jurrien Timber, a summer signing, also out long term, Mikel Arteta has been left to review his options ahead of the visit of United - and his Brazilian centre-half may be set for a recall.
Gabriel has fallen out of favour this term despite being a regular last season. He hasn't been included in any of Arteta's starting XIs this term, appearing from the bench on two occasions with Ben White being preferred as the man alongside William Saliba - the England international having been shuffled out to right-back in 2022-23 as Saliba and Gabriel built an impressive partnership.
The former Lille man has been the subject of interest from Saudi Arabia, albeit a move is yet to materialise. Arsenal made it known the player wasn't for sale, yet he's lost his starting role.
Now he could get the chance to stake his claim once more at the Emirates against a heavyweight rival.
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Arteta claimed recently Gabriel would get more than his fair share of minutes throughout the season: "Gabi will play a lot of games, I’m sure and it’s about bringing the competition high and try to make the team play better, better, better and better and be more dominant and win more games. That’s the purpose of all of us."
But the Arsenal boss has been keeping quiet over why exactly Gabriel has found himself left on the outside looking in.
LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 26: Gabriel of Arsenal looks on from the substitutes bench prior to the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Fulham FC at Emirates Stadium on August 26, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)Arteta could find himself reverting to the back four we saw so often last term when United visit the Emirates. It was White who was pushed out to right-back to accommodate Saliba last season following his return from a loan spell with Marseille, with Gabriel playing centrally and Oleksandr Zinchenko operating from left-back.
Arteta was quizzed on his defensive changes this term and justified his selection by highlighting how different players and different oppositions lead to him finding different solutions.
He said: "The personnel is different. We played differently against Manchester City and there were 43 different structures in different phases. Every morning I come from my house to Colney, sometimes I leave at six and I need to wipe the windscreen because it's icy and at six o'clock normally I go down one road because it's faster, now it's 20 miles an hour.
"So sometimes I take a back road and then I go on the M25, but depending on if it's a school ride, then I take one exit, if it's after seven o'clock I take a different exit.
"One day I have a flat tyre and what do you do? You have to replace it and take a different road because the garage is there, so every game is a different story."
Arsenal secured a late victory in this fixture last term with Eddie Nketiah netting the winner in a 3-2 success. It was United though who dealt the Gunners their first defeat last season when they recorded a 3-1 win in early Septmeber.
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