MATT BARLOW: Spurs boss Roberto De Zerbi said it would take time for the Ukraine international winger to get up to speed but his progress is halted by a setback in training.
"He's comfortable playing in a possession-based team, reads the game very well and has the personality to thrive in a demanding environment," Roberto de Zerbi said on Marco Senesi after Tottenham signed the defender in June. Senesi was a big get for Spurs. It was expected Senesi would slot straight into De Zerbi's starting XI - and he did for the Premier League opener away at Brentford.
Cristiano Ronaldo will lead Al-Nassr into Wednesday’s Saudi Pro League meeting with Abha, but the Portuguese star will have to cope without teammates Joao Felix and Kingsley Coman. Their absence comes at an important moment for Ange Postecoglou’s side, which is looking to respond after suffering its first league defeat of the season and keep pace with Al-Hilal at the top of the table. Cristiano Ronaldo will lead Al-Nassr into Wednesday’s Saudi Pro League meeting with Abha, but the Portuguese star will have to cope without teammates Joao Felix and Kingsley Coman. Their absence comes at an important moment for Ange Postecoglou’s side, which is looking to respond after suffering its first league defeat of the season and keep pace with Al-Hilal at the top of the table. Al-Nassr has made an impressive start to the campaign, collecting 12 points from its opening five league matches. However, the 2-1 defeat against Al-Ittihad ended a four-game winning run and means Postecoglou must now make adjustments as his team returns to Alawwal Park. Al-Nassr looking to bounce back against struggling Abha The Knight of Najd had been perfect through its first four league fixtures, beating Al-Fateh, Al-Riyadh, Al-Ettifaq and Al-Taawoun before the setback against Al-Ittihad. The team has still scored 13 goals and conceded only five, while its home record remains perfect after two victories at Alawwal Park. The defeat in Jeddah was particularly frustrating because Al-Nassr created enough opportunities to rescue a point. George Ilenikhena scored twice inside the opening 22 minutes, while Angelo Gabriel pulled one back before halftime after Ronaldo produced a superb first-touch lob to release Felix. Abha arrives in Riyadh in completely different circumstances. The promoted side has collected only one point from five matches, losing four and scoring just four goals while conceding 11, leaving it at the bottom of the table. The visitors have also lost both of their away matches this season, while Al-Nassr has dominated this fixture in recent years. The Riyadh side has won six of the last seven meetings, including an emphatic 8-0 victory in their most recent encounter. Why Joao Felix is missing against Abha The first part of the mystery surrounding Al-Nassr’s missing attackers concerns Felix, and the reason is disciplinary rather than physical. The Portuguese forward picked up his fourth yellow card of the season during the defeat to Al-Ittihad, automatically triggering a one-match suspension. Felix was booked for a challenge on Richard Rios late in the match, meaning he must now watch Wednesday’s game from the sidelines. His absence is a significant blow considering he has already registered two goals and two assists in his first five Saudi Pro League appearances. Cristiano Ronaldo of Al-Nassr celebrates with teammates Joao Felix and Kingsley Coman after scoring. His suspension comes at an unfortunate time for Postecoglou, with Felix having quickly established himself as an important attacking partner for Ronaldo. Al-Nassr will therefore need other players to provide the creativity and goal threat he has offered during the opening weeks of the campaign. Why Kingsley Coman is also unavailable Coman’s situation is different, with the French winger sidelined by an injury suffered against Al-Ittihad. He was forced off after 60 minutes with a hamstring problem, initially raising concerns that he could face an extended spell out of action. Medical examinations subsequently provided more clarity. According to Arriyadiyah, Coman suffered a minor hamstring tear and has been advised to undergo at least seven days of rest, meaning he will miss the Abha clash. Kingsley Coman of Al Nassr. The injury is another setback for a player who has featured regularly since arriving at Al-Nassr. Coman has made five Saudi Pro League appearances this season, although he has yet to score or provide an assist. The expectation is that the Frenchman could be back in contention for A
Arsenal fans ‘forget’ how ‘important’ Gabriel Martinelli was at times, says Freddie Ljungberg (Picture: Getty) Freddie Ljungberg has questioned Arsenal fans’ treatment of Gabriel Martinelli, accusing supporters of ‘forgetting’ what the attacker did for the club before his summer exit. Martinelli managed just one goal and four assists in the Premier League as Arsenal finally brought their wait for the title to an end last season, in what was the Brazilian’s seventh year at the Emirates. It was subsequently decided that Arsenal would be open to offers for Martinelli after the 25-year-old was named amongst Mikel Arteta’s substitutes for the club’s last six matches of the campaign in all competitions. Martinelli would go on to complete a move to Saudi Pro League outfit Al-Hilal in a deal worth around £60million, becoming the second first-team winger to depart following Leandro Trossard’s switch to Besiktas a month-and-a-half earlier. Sign up for In The Mixer, Metro's football newsletter Get exclusive analysis and previews of the biggest games every Friday. Sign up now for free. Christos Tzolis was signed from Club Brugge to help fill the void left by the loss of the two title-winning forwards and the English champions worked right up until the end of the window to find another top-class attacker for Arteta. But the Arsenal head coach was left disappointed as the deadline came and went, and there are some fears they may be a little short of options on the left flank. ‘A Brazilian football player, he works that hard, the age he has and numbers and stuff, that’s not a cheap football player,’ ex-Arsenal winger Ljungberg said of Martinelli on Viaplay. Martinelli left the Gunners to complete a £60m move to Al-Hilal (Picture: AP) The Brazilian was a substitute in Arsenal’s final six matches of last season (Picture: Getty) ‘And they sold him for quite a lot of money so I was a little bit [surprised] when people really wanted him out and fans wanted him out. ‘I was a bit like, “That’s a good player that you just want out”, but that’s what everybody felt that they seemed to be wanting and they got rid of him. They got good money for him. ‘Sometimes the fans forget, maybe, how much he has done for this club, how many important goals he scored during the years.’ {"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Mikel Arteta speaks before Champions League match against Napoli","contentUrl":"https:\/\/videos.metro.co.uk\/video\/met\/2026\/09\/08\/3761798954835882587\/480x270_MP4_3761798954835882587.mp4","description":"Arsenal's Mikel speaks to the press on Tuesday ahead of their Champions League match against Napoli on Wednesday at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.","duration":"T1M34S","height":270,"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/09\/08\/22\/111127717-0-image-m-34_1788904072537.jpg","uploadDate":"2026-09-08T22:46:27+0100","width":480} To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Up Next Previous Page Next Page window.addEventListener('metroVideo:relatedVideosCarouselLoaded', function(data) { if (typeof(data.detail) === 'undefined' || typeof(data.detail.carousel) === 'undefined' || typeof(data.detail.carousel.el_) === 'undefined') { return; } var player = data.detail.carousel.el_; var container = player.closest('.metro-video-player'); var placeholder = container.querySelector('.metro-video-player__up-next-placeholder'); if (placeholder) { container.removeChild(placeholder); container.classList.add('metro-video-player--related-videos-loaded'); } }); Though somewhat miffed by some fans’ perception of Martinelli, Ljungberg can understand why the Gunners decided to bring in Tzolis as a replacement. According to Ljungberg, the Greece international – signed for a fee of £34m – perhaps looks a little more ‘tactically aware’ than the man he succeeded on the left. ‘If you talk about Martinelli, sometimes he did irrational things,’ the Swede – who won tw
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