Why Leandro Trossard is not suspended from Arsenal’s next Premier League game

Arsenal will have Leandro Trossard available for their next Premier League game, at home to Leicester on Saturday afternoon, despite his red card against Manchester City.

Trossard was given his marching orders by referee Michael Oliver in the first half of injury time, perceived to have kicked the ball away following a foul on Bernardo Silva. It was confirmed by VAR that a second yellow card at that point was issued specifically for delaying the restart of play.

It is the second consecutive time an Arsenal player has been shown a second yellow card for kicking the ball away, following Declan Rice’s controversial sending off against Brighton & Hove Albion.

It was reported the following day that Trossard told teammates in the locker room that he had not heard the whistle signaling the earlier foul and that he was trying to make a pass.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta took a bleak view when asked by a journalist in the following days if he had to remind his players not to kick the ball away: “To pass the ball, you mean? Just leave the ball, don’t touch the ball. We will play without the ball.”

For a red card that was the result of two yellow cards, Trossard receives an automatic one-match suspension. Only straight red cards can be appealed, so Arsenal must accept them.

But the ban applies to all domestic games, rather than being defined by single competitions. So while Rice had to miss the north London derby against Tottenham Hotspur, Trossard could be selected when Leicester visit the Emirates Stadium at the weekend.

Trossard’s suspension will have been served by then, with Arsenal hosting League One Bolton Wanderers in the third round of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night. The Belgian, having started three Premier League games in a row, may have been rested for that one anyway, with Arteta having the likes of Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling to call upon in his squad rotation.

Ultimately, a second-half numerical disadvantage against City proved costly. Arteta knew Arsenal would not be able to keep up with a man down and sent his team out to defend for their lives. It almost worked, too, until John Stones’ 98th-minute equaliser denied the Gunners what would have been their first win at the Etihad Stadium in almost a decade.