Mikel Arteta won't be in the Arsenal dugout for Villa amid suspension decision.(Image: Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

Why Mikel Arteta won't be in the Arsenal dugout for Aston Villa clash

Mikel Arteta will need to watch Arsenal from the stands at Villa Park this Saturday, picking up his third booking of the season when his side defeated Luton Town 4-3 on Tuesday night

05 Dec 2023, 23:20 by Aaron Catterson-Reid · football.london

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta will be forced to watch from the stands when his side take on Aston Villa in the Premier League this weekend. The Spaniard received a booking for passionately celebrating Declan Rice's 97th-minute winner against Luton Town on Tuesday night, his third booking of the campaign.

This season, the Premier League reduced their threshold for a ban to three cards in a bid to deter abuse against the officials. When asked to give his reaction to the suspension on the full-time whistle at Kenilworth Road, Arteta told beIN SPORTS: "Yeah, I could not be sitting on my seat, unfortunately.

"So I left there, I had no spatial awareness at all.

"It was just pure emotion. So if that's a yellow. Okay, it's a yellow."

It was a hugely entertaining game between Arsenal and the Hatters, who twice came back from a goal down to equalise, before making it 3-2 through Ross Barkley just before the hour mark. But the Gunners rallied, with Kai Havertz drawing things level just a few minutes after Barkley's effort.

Luton were able to survive a barrage of Arsenal attacks over the next half an hour before Rice glanced home a header deep into stoppage time, crushing the hearts of the home faithful in the process.

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