Ethan Nwaneri responds to Arsenal team-mate after early Marseille exit | Football | Sport

Ethan Nwaneri has reacted to a Jurrien Timber post following Arsenal’s progression to the Carabao Cup final. The Gunners overcame Chelsea 4-2 on aggregate, with Timber featuring for the entire 180 minutes and showcasing his defensive adaptability throughout the tie.

The Dutch defender operated across both full-back positions against the Blues and even had a brief spell at centre-back during the clash with Brighton. Nwaneri found the net in that 2-0 triumph over the Seagulls back in October, which proved to be among his final starts before departing on loan to Marseille in January.

The young midfielder has experienced a turbulent opening three matches at the French side, scoring on his debut before Marseille surrendered a two-goal advantage against Paris FC, and narrowly avoiding a red card in the 3-0 victory over Rennes and exiting the pitch early.

Despite this, he appears to be monitoring developments at the Emirates – and was delighted by their semi-final success.

Nwaneri responded to Timber’s Instagram update regarding the Chelsea win with a red heart emoji. Timber had written: “Big fight, big win… fans amazing! Wembley soon,” with Max Dowman also amongst those commenting.

Dowman has been sidelined for several months through injury and was Arsenal’s sole absentee prior to the win over Leeds. That situation has worsened rapidly, though, with Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard both sustaining knocks.

The pair were predictably missing from Arsenal’s open training session on Thursday, though eyebrows were raised when Timber was also nowhere to be seen on the pitches at London Colney before the Premier League clash with Sunderland.

Managing his workload seems the most plausible explanation for his absence, although there remains a possibility that injury could be behind it, given the 24-year-old has clocked up significant game time in recent weeks.

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Should Timber be sidelined for any length of time, Ben White represents a more than adequate alternative.

When Timber deputised at left-back previously, White featured in three matches across seven days, which ultimately led to him sustaining a hamstring problem.

White is expected to feature prominently in the coming weeks, however. A congested fixture list looms following their Carabao Cup final qualification.

After Sunderland’s visit to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, the Gunners head to Brentford next Thursday before welcoming Wigan to North London for an FA Cup fourth-round fixture.

Arsenal were originally set for a midweek break after that, but their away fixture at Wolves, previously scheduled for the Carabao Cup final weekend, has now been moved forward by almost a month.

A North London Derby at Tottenham awaits the following weekend, before another showdown with fierce rivals Chelsea opens proceedings in March at the Emirates.