Arsenal offer ‘mark of respect’ to Ukraine with Zinchenko gesture
Arsenal have made Oleksandr Zinchenko captain for their trip to face Leicester City on Saturday afternoon, with the Ukrainian stepping in for usual skipper Martin Odegaard as ‘a mark of respect and love‘ one day after the first anniversary of his country’s ongoing conflict with Russia.
Vladimir Putin’s military assault on Ukraine has left at least 8,000 civilians dead and forced millions more to flee the country. Zinchenko, who was born in Radomyshl, has been outspoken in opposing the conflict and broke down in tears during a press conference last year.
“Every Ukrainian wants one thing – to stop this war,” he told reporters. “I have spoken with people from all around the world, from different countries. I have also spoken to some Ukrainian kids who just don’t understand what’s happening back in Ukraine. They only want the war to stop. They have one dream, to stop the war.”
Exactly one year and a day on from the beginning of the invasion, Arsenal have made Zinchenko captain for their trip to Leicester as a mark of ‘love and respect’ for the defender, who has been a smash hit since signing from Manchester City in the summer.
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The gesture was supposedly thought up by Arsenal’s club captain, Odegaard, who has worn the armband since the start of the season. Zinchenko has never previously captained the Gunners and will do so for a huge game, with Mikel Arteta and co hoping to extend their Premier League lead over Manchester City.
The Spaniard raised eyebrows with a curious starting XI against the Foxes, with Eddie Nketiah dropped to the bench after suffering an ankle injury. Key midfielder Thomas Partey has also returned to fitness, but only enough to be named on the bench.
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That made space in the line-up for Leandro Trossard and Jorginho, both of whom have played important roles since signing from Brighton and Chelsea respectively in January. The Gunners cut it fine last time out, scoring twice in second-half stoppage time to avoid dropping two more points against Aston Villa and come away with a 4-2 win.
Speaking ahead of Saturday’s match, Arteta hinted that it may not just be Arsenal and City in the title race amid a hot streak of form for Manchester United, who made another statement by seeing off Barcelona in midweek.
“I think there are more teams involved [in the title race] and every day is going to be a race,” he said. “Today it’s how we convince those players to train better, to play better against Leicester. We’re going to have to be really good to beat them, especially with the way they’ve been playing in the last few weeks.
“[Leicester] have been really consistent the past few weeks in the games they’ve played. It’s true that Brendan has proposed very different games in many different moments throughout the seasons and they have this capacity to adapt, play different formations and play in different approaches.”
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