In Nigerian parlance, such a series of unfortunate events would be called the work of ‘village people’, unidentified entities who bring about misery, presumably from the victim’s hometown.
Arsenal seem to be facing something like that now as they not only lost 3-1 to rivals Manchester United in the FA Cup, but they also lost their two best defenders– Laurent Koscielny and Sokratis Papastathopoulos– to injury.
The Gunners are already without Rob Holding, who incidentally also got injured against Manchester United, and Hector Bellerin, who they lost last week Saturday when they played Chelsea.
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With Koscielny who was hit in the ear by Lukaku’s studs and Sokratis who might have twisted something, Arsenal once more find themselves in dire need of defenders.
The Gunners ended the game with Mustafi, a much-maligned defender and Granit Xhaka, a deep-lying midfielder, in the heart of defence.
Arsenal now have Danny Welbeck, Rob Holding and Hector Bellerin all nursing long-term injuries that mean they cannot play again this season and will hope with all their might that the injuries to their two best defenders aren’t serious in any way.
Arsenal are now out of the FA Cup, but with their win against Chelsea last week, are still very ,much in the running to make top 4.
The Gunners welcome Cardiff City on Tuesday, before they face another heavyweight match when they travel to the Etihad to face last season’s champions, Manchester City.