Arsene Wenger has revealed that Santi Cazorla was left out of the starting line-up against West Ham to ensure that he didn’t pick up an injury, as reported by The Express
Cazorla has played in a central midfield role in recent months, producing some of the best form of his Arsenal career. His intelligence and ability to spray the ball around with either foot has allowed him to excel in the deeper position, and he also appears to have added some steel to his game.
The Spain international had started Arsenal’s last 16 league matches before kick-off against the Hammers, but was only named on the bench at The Emirates, with Aaron Ramsey coming into the team after recovering from a hamstring problem.
Speaking before the game, Wenger said: “Some players are coming in like [Calum] Chambers and [Theo] Walcott. Cazorla is a bit on the edge so is rested today.”
Cazorla has scored seven goals and registered six assists this season, with an average pass accuracy of 88%.
Despite his absence, Arsenal went on to comfortably beat their East London rivals 3-0 thanks to goals from Olivier Giroud, Ramsey and Mathieu Flamini.
The Gunners have now won eight of their last nine league games and are currently third in the league, just one point behind defending champions Manchester City in second.
Wenger’s side won at Old Trafford for the first time since 2006 on Monday to knock Manchester United out of the FA Cup and secure their place in the semi-finals. They take on Monaco next Tuesday, where they will be looking to come back from two goals down.
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