LONDON: Pierre-Emerick is in more trouble at Arsenal. He played only five minutes as a substitute last Monday in a defeat by Everton and now risks being stripped of the captaincy after being dropped entirely for the 3-0 defeat of Southampton.

Aubameyang, according to media reports, had returned late from a trip abroad earlier in the week. This meant he missed the Covid-19 test deadline to the anger of manager Mikel Arteta.

The 32-year-old has had a number of time-keeping issues during his four years in north London. The most recent previous incident was in March when he was dropped for the derby against Tottenham for being late after being caught in a traffic jam on the way to the game.

The previous month he was cautioned to remember his responsibilities as captain after apparently breaching Covid-19 regulations to obtain a tattoo.

This time Arteta said: “Unfortunately, he was left out due to a disciplinary breach. We’ve been consistent with non-negotiables as a team. It’s not an easy situation that we want our club captain to be in.”

Arteta refused to answer questions about the captain’s armband or whether he would be restored to the squad for Wednesday’s derby at home to West Ham. Aubameyang will almost certainly be fined.

Before the game Arteta denied a rift with Aubameyang whose season has yielded only four goals in 14 games. Arsenal, without Aubameyang won decisively with goals from Alexandre Lacazette, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel. Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli both hit the posts. Aubemeyang is one of the highest-paid players in the league obn £350,000-a-week. His contract runs until the summer of 2023.

United Covid doubt

Manchester United’s match at Brentford tomorrow is in doubt after several player and staff tested positive for Covid-19 yesterday. All players had tested negative before Saturday’s 1-0 win at Norwich.

Yesterday’s Tottenham v Brighton game was postponed after an outbreak in the Spurs squad. Tonight’s second tier match between QPR and Sheffield United is off after an outbreak at QPR.

West Ham retained fourth place but slipped eight points behind third-placed Chelsea after being held goalless by relegation-threatened Burnley. Hammers had 16 shots and 14 corners but were defied by England’s No2 goalkeeper Nick Pope. Burnley have won only one league match.

Newcastle’s crisis continued as the Saudi-backed ‘richest club in the world’ collapsed 4:0 to Leicester. Youri Tielemans scored twice as the Foxes recovered from their midweek Europa League exit against Napoli.

Thielemans was making his first Premier start since November 7 after injury. This was only Leicester’s second victory in seven league games.

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