Arsenal drop Matteo Guendouzi from squad for Southampton clash after spat at Brighton
MATTEO GUENDOUZI has been dropped by Arsenal for the game against Southampton after his ugly show of aggression against Brighton.
The French star, 21, lost his cool and grabbed Neal Maupay by the throat at the end of a feisty clash on the south coast at the weekend.
Guendouzi escaped any on-field punishment and avoided a retrospective three-match ban for his display of violence.
But Gunners boss Mikel Arteta has decided to leave him out for the game against Southampton - with the midfielder not even earning a place on the bench.
Maupay had irked Guendouzi after his involvement in a nasty incident with Gunners goalkeeper Bernd Leno, with the German seriously injuring his knee.
The French forward then scored a last-gasp winner as Arsenal threw away a 1-0 lead to watch their European hopes fade away.
In a tempestuous clash, Guendouzi - a rumoured transfer target for Real Madrid and Barcelona - was also slammed for his talking during the game.
The French midfielder is said to have bragged about his wages - saying Maupay would never earn as much as him... even though the Brighton star earns £10,000 a week more.
With Guendouzi left out, Arteta appears to have gone with a 4-4-2 formation for the game against Southampton.
Dani Ceballos and Granit Xhaka are the starting central midfielders, ahead of Guendouzi - with Nicolas Pepe and Bukayo Saka on the wing.
Eddie Nketiah is preferred to Alexandre Lacazette alongside Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
And in goal, Emiliano Martinez has Hector Bellerin, Shkodran Müstafi, Rob Holding and Kieran Tierney ahead of him.
Arsenal sit 11th in the Premier League going into the game, 11 points of fourth-placed Chelsea.
In their home game against Saints earlier this season, the Gunners needed a 96th-minute equaliser from Aubameyang to snatch a 2-2 draw.