Nicklas Bendtner

Arsenal boss Unai Emery has said that Rob Holding is not far away from making a Premier League comeback with the club. The 24-year-old has already made a couple of appearances in the Cup competitions since his return from a knee injury but so far, Emery has been reluctant to play him in the English top-flight.

Speaking in a press conference, Emery said that Kieran Tierney and Holding are not far off from representing the Gunners in the Premier League. He added that he is content with the performances of David Luiz and Sokratis at the heart of the backline but Holding will get the opportunity to impress as there are plenty of games remaining in the season, he told: “Kieran and Rob (Holding) are closer to playing. I think Rob Holding can play 90 minutes with a good performance. Now we are also working with David Luiz and Sokratis, but really, I am very happy. He is going to have a chance to play a lot of matches.”

Luiz and Sokratis have been the preferred central defensive partnership from the second league game of the campaign but there have been prone to making mistakes. While Luiz has been guilty of conceding a couple of penalties already, Sokratis has looked cautious with the distribution and the duo cost the team during the 2-2 draw at Watford last month.

As a result, there have been calls for Holding and Calum Chambers to feature in the central defensive positions but Emery has resisted the option to date. Arsenal secured only their second clean sheet of the league campaign on Saturday as they secured a slender 1-0 triumph over Bournemouth at the Emirates Stadium.
Luiz scored the only goal of the game but Chambers was undoubtedly the standout performer. The England international started on the right side of the defence but he was operating more centrally during the second period where he made a couple of last-ditch interceptions to deny the Cherries from levelling the scores.