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The Gunners were beaten in Champions League on Wednesday night by Inter, which came off the back of a Premier League defeat to Newcastle United just days earlier.
Having also surprisingly lost against Bournemouth following the October international break, as well as dropping points against Liverpool, Mikel Arteta’s side have won only two of their last six games in all competitions. But their last Premier League victory was back on 5 October.
Those results have seen Arsenal fall off the pace set by Liverpool in the title race, seven points behind the Reds. They have also slipped out of the top four for at least the time being thanks to Nottingham Forest’s surprise form and Chelsea’s resurgence.
Ahead of meeting the Blues at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon, Arsenal are level points with their London rivals but marginally behind on goal difference. It is a must-win game for both.
One player who won’t be involved, however, is Raheem Sterling.
Sterling was a surprise addition for the Gunners at the end of the summer transfer window as Chelsea sought to trim a bloated squad and offload players not part of Enzo Maresca’s plans.
Manchester United were linked with the former Liverpool and Manchester City winger, but it was Arsenal who ended up taking him on loan for the duration of 2024/25.
The Gunners are not believed to have paid a loan fee for Sterling and it has been reported that they are paying significantly less than 50% of his salary – perhaps even as little as £100,000 per week of a contract worth £325,000 – with Chelsea covering the rest.
But the fact that Sterling is on loan from Chelsea is why he cannot be involved on Sunday, with Premier League rules outlawing players from featuring against their parent club. It was once the case that the clubs could agree that between themselves, which famously saw Lomana LuaLua score for Portsmouth against Newcastle in 2004. The rules were …
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