Mikel Arteta may have perfect opportunity to unleash forgotten Arsenal signing vs Atalanta

Everyone associated with Arsenal is still on a high following the huge 1-0 win over Tottenham on Sunday.

The Gunners beat their arch-rivals without the likes of Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice and Riccardo Calafiori, putting in a sensational defensive performance to put them within two points of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League. “On the performance we had good moments and others where we had to suffer,” Mikel Arteta said after the North London Derby.

“We suffered because we had to adapt the plan because of the players that we had available. I loved it. The second we started to get that news, the team got hungrier and hungrier to play that game.

“It’s a big compliment to everybody at the club to behave in a certain way. It’s a tough week coming and instead of finding any excuses we did the opposite. We faced the challenge, played with courage and acknowledged the qualities we had to win the game.”

Attention now turns to the Champions League, with Arsenal facing Atalanta in Italy on Thursday night. It is the first of eight league phase games, where the Gunners will be intent on finishing in the top eight to automatically qualify for the round of 16.

The Serie A side will be tough opponents, although they have had a mixed start to the season. After four league matches played they have won two and lost two, with them currently sitting in ninth place.

Odegaard is a doubt for the clash having picked up an ankle injury on international duty with Norway, while there are also question marks over Calafiori and Oleksandr Zinchenko after the two defenders missed the North London Derby through injury. Both left-backs are nursing calf injuries and Thursday’s Champions League clash may just come too soon for them, although Arteta will reveal more during his pre-match press conference on Wednesday evening.

Should Calafiori and Zinchenko miss the clash in Italy, Arteta will have a decision to make over who to play at left-back. Jurrien Timber has started Arsenal’s last two league games in the position and completed 90 minutes against Tottenham on Sunday. Given the Dutchman is still regaining his fitness after missing most of last campaign with an ACL injury, Arteta may be reluctant to start the former Ajax man once again.

This could give Jakub Kiwior a chance to impress. The Polish international is yet to play for the north Londoners this season, failing to come off the bench in the Gunners past three league games. In fact, he has played just 45 minutes of football this campaign, which came in Poland’s UEFA Nations League clash against Scotland on September 5.

Somewhat of a forgotten man this season, Kiwior may find it hard to break into the side given Arteta has a number of options who can play at centre-back and left-back. He is arguably the club’s fourth choice centre-back behind Gabriel, William Saliba and Calafiori, while he is also the club’s fourth choice left-back behind Timber, Calafiori and Zinchenko.

With Calafiori and Zinchenko nursing injuries, and a reluctance to play Timber too much, it’s highly likely Kiwior comes in from the start at Atalanta. This could be the perfect time for the 24-year-old to remind Arteta of his qualities, especially with Carabao Cup and even more Champions League games to come.

Signed from Spezia in a deal worth £20million in January last year, Kiwior is yet to set the world alight at the Emirates Stadium. A good performance against Atalanta on Thursday could just be what the Poland international needs to kick-start his Gunners career.