Edwards didn't find Arteta's decision to make five changes against Luton as 'disrespectful' at all

Luton boss Rob Edwards didn’t find it disrespectful in the slightest the amount of changes made by Arsenal ahead of their 2-0 victory over the Hatters on Wednesday night that strengthened the hosts’ push for the Premier League title.

When the team news was announced, Gunners chief Mikel Arteta opted to make five alterations from the side who had played out a goalless draw with championship rivals Manchester City on Sunday, as dropping to the bench were £100m summer signing Declan Rice, plus Gabriel Jesus, Jakub Kiwior and Jorginho with England star Bukayo Saka rested completely.

Their replacements were still pretty good though, Belgian international Leandro Trossard, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Thomas Partey, the latter starting a first game since August having suffered a thigh injury. They were joined by Reiss Nelson, beginning his first league game of the season and first in the Premier League since July 2020, plus Emile Smith Rowe, making just his third start of the season.

With Arsenal’s upcoming games seeing them host Brighton and visit Aston Villa, also playing Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, who possess a certain Harry Kane, in their two-legged Champions League quarter-final, it was something that Edwards had expected to happen, as he said: “We anticipated one or two, we thought there’d be a couple of changes there, and let's look at this, they're playing us and we’re severely depleted at the moment.

"They’ve got huge games coming up at the weekend, Champions League, everything else, so we anticipated a few changes. They can see tonight as an opportunity to do that, I don’t find it disrespectful at all, I think it’s the right thing to do. It didn't upset their rhythm as they still tried to do the same things like we tried to do the same things even though we have different people playing.

"So it doesn't change too much, take Saka out, all right it’s a little bit different on that side, he might not be coming in all the time on that left foot, but they've still got that back four, the goalkeeper, Ben White is still there and they've still got that solidity as well. They're not bad players who are coming in either, it didn't change too much about our preparation, as we thought there might be a couple of changes.”

One of the new faces, Smith Rowe, played his part in the first goal when robbing Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu of possession, the ball eventually making its way into the back of the Hatters net a few passes later via the unerring finish of Martin Odegaard. He also had a huge role in the second, picked out to make an unchallenged run to the byline, his cross hitting Nelson and crossing the line via a deflection off the unfortunate Daiki Hashioka.

The 23-year-old full England international was some replacement for Arteta according to Edwards, who continued: “He’s a really good player. He probably won’t remember this, but I did a few camps with him in the U20s when I was working with the FA and I thought he was outstanding. We played in Portugal and won four-nil and he was brilliant, so I've always been a big admirer of his. He’s a top player, they've got a lot of top players here, he’s just been unfortunate that he’s not been able to get in, but he’s an exceptional player.”

With the Gunners losing top spot to Liverpool since, the Reds beating Sheffield United 3-1 at Anfield last night, on just how good a side Arteta has at his disposal, Edwards added: “They give no chances away do they really now to the opposition teams. We saw them against a top, top team at the weekend and they limited City to very, very little, so they don’t give you anything. It’s very clear how they attack but it’s really difficult to stop as well.

"They’re always there with good numbers and they can really suffocate you. I think maybe they’re the one team that out of all the three that are fighting at the moment that can play any game. If it’s a physical game, if it’s a footballing game, if it’s a running game, whatever it is, they’ve got the answers, they’ve got the personnel to play any way. I just think they’ve got no weaknesses really, especially when we’re looking at them.”