Emery urges in-form Arsenal not to be distracted

Arsenal extended their unbeaten run to 21 games in all competitions after beating Huddersfield Town 1-0 and Unai Emery told his players not to be distracted by any off-field stories.

On Friday, a national newspaper published a video which it claimed showed some Arsenal players allegedly taking nitrous oxide before the season started.

Arsenal issued a statement in which it said the players “will be spoken to” and “reminded of their responsibilities as representatives of the club”.

And Emery is keen for his men to maintain their focus after Lucas Torreira’s 83rd-minute overhead kick delivered the three points on Saturday.

Torreira… pic.twitter.com/EAvCc9RlCi

— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) December 8, 2018

“Maybe you are speaking about the problem outside of here but, for me, the club and inside we can’t speak about that,” Emery told a media conference.

“Then, no distractions, I don’t want distractions. Today I think every player is focused on the match.

“It was a tough match, it was a slow rhythm but we want it and I think we deserved to win.”

The Gunners accumulated five yellow cards in the loss and Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Shkodran Mustafi picked up their fifth bookings of the campaign.

That means both defenders will be suspended for next weekend’s trip to Southampton and will be missing along with Rob Holding, who ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament at Manchester United on Wednesday.

Just want to say a big thank you to all the fans, players and staff members for the support during the past couple of days. Gutted to get injured during a strong period for the team! pic.twitter.com/EC466il7aG

— Rob Holding (@RobHolding95) December 7, 2018

However, Emery is confident that he has enough options in that department, with club captain Laurent Koscielny back on the bench against Huddersfield for the first time this season.

“Now, I don’t know how we are going to play next week,” Emery joked. “But we have players. 

“[Stephan] Lichtsteiner was playing centre-back [against Huddersfield], and in Manchester also. Koscielny is coming also. Nacho Monreal. I do have players.”

Huddersfield, who drew at Manchester City and Chelsea towards the end of last season, came close to claiming a point in a game in which there were only two shots on target.

“This is enough if you are Huddersfield Town to deserve a point, unfortunately we don’t have it, which is obviously disappointing,” coach David Wagner said.

“I can see how we performed defensively against a top-class side and I can see the positives. I know that we altogether can keep our head high after this performance.”