Arsenal already know one man who won’t be at the Emirates on Saturday 7 November: Hull City midfielder Matt Crooks, who has picked up the fifth yellow card that triggers a one-match ban.
It came in Hull‘s gripping 2-2 draw with Ipswich Town at the MKM Stadium on Saturday, where Oli McBurnie and Tim Iroegbunam cancelled out goals from Florentino Luis and Julio Enciso.
Arsenal vs Hull City kicks off at 3pm, and it’s the Gunners’ next Premier League game after the trip to Liverpool. So it’s a small boost, handed over with the best part of a week to spare. The question is how much it really changes.
How did Matt Crooks end up suspended?
It took him all of 15 minutes. Crooks started on the bench against Ipswich and came on for John Egan at half-time, with Hull 1-0 down and chasing the game. On the hour he was booked for a poor challenge on Luis.
That was his fifth of the season, after yellows against Manchester United, Chelsea, Newcastle United and Everton. Five bookings before the 19-game cut-off means a one-match suspension, and for the 32-year-old that match is Arsenal.
Does the ban actually help Arsenal?
Not by much, if we’re being honest. The former Middlesbrough man was a regular early on, starting five of Hull’s first seven league games and missing Coventry City and Aston Villa with a thigh injury. Since then the picture has changed. He was an unused substitute in last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Brentford and only came off the bench against Ipswich.
So we don’t expect it to wreck Sergej Jakirovic’s plans. Iroegbunam and Regan Slater look the likely pairing in midfield at the Emirates. What Hull do lose is an experienced, tough-tackling option, and that’s the sort of player you’d want in reserve at the home of the champions.
Hull’s midfield is getting very thin
This is where it starts to matter. Darko Gyabi, Lucas Gourna-Douath and Eliot Matazo are all injured, although Gyabi and Gourna-Douath are expected back at some point in November. Add Crooks and Jakirovic could be without four midfielders for this one.
It could have been worse for the Tigers. McBurnie is also on four yellows and got through the Ipswich game without a fifth, so Hull keep their goalscorer from Saturday.
Arsenal have selection problems of their own, mind. Max Dowman’s red card at Fleetwood Town led to a three-match ban that also rules him out of this game, while Bukayo Saka’s injury has already cost Mikel Arteta his first-choice right winger. That has left Noni Madueke with a big chance on that side.
What happened the last time Hull won at the Emirates?
Hull fans will happily tell you about September 2008, when their side had only just been promoted to the Premier League for the first time and beat Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal 2-1 in N5.
The story since is rather less cheerful for them. Hull have gone 14 games against the Gunners without a win, losing 12 of them, including that chaotic 3-2 defeat in the 2013-14 FA Cup final. The last time the sides met in the league, in 2016-17, Arsenal did the double by an aggregate of 6-1, winning 4-1 away and 2-0 at home.
Verdict: Arsenal vs Hull City won’t turn on one suspension
We wouldn’t get carried away with this one. Crooks wasn’t starting anyway, and Hull got their point against Ipswich without him in the XI, with Iroegbunam among the scorers.
The real gain for Arsenal is depth, or rather Hull’s lack of it. If Jakirovic needs to change something in the middle of the park with the game getting away from him, he’ll have fewer experienced bodies to turn to. For Gooners, that’s a welcome bit of news, even if it won’t decide the afternoon.
