Fabio Vieira will be 'kicking himself' after Arsenal red card

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·15 November 2023

Fabio Vieira will be 'kicking himself' after Arsenal red card

Highlights

Arsenal midfielder Fabio Vieira will be "kicking himself" after recieving a red card in last weekend's Premier League clash with Burnley at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners midfielder is unavailable in the top-flight until Mikel Arteta's side travel to Aston Villa on 9th December.
Vieira will still have the chance to impress in an Arsenal fixture later this month.

Arsenal midfielder Fabio Vieira will probably be “kicking himself” after being shown a red card in his Premier League appearance against Burnley at the Emirates Stadium last weekend, as journalist Paul Brown rates his chances of getting back into the side.

Mikel Arteta hopes to lead his Gunners to their first top-flight title in 20 years at the end of the season, having almost taken Manchester City all the way last term.

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Arsenal have endured a mixed start to the season but are still well in the race to win the league. However, they still need to reach the heights they performed last term. The north London giants will recuperate over the international break and consider their next steps as the busy winter months approach.

Vieira fails to impress on rare opportunity

Vieira has started just one Premier League game this term. In September, he was deployed as an attacking midfielder in Arsenal’s 1-0 victory at Everton. Since then, he has been afforded cameos off the bench in the top flight, having failed to break into a midfield that contains vital players such as Declan Rice, Kai Havertz, and Martin Odegaard.

Last weekend, Vieira replaced Havertz with just over half an hour of their Premier League home clash with Burnley remaining. The former Portugal U21 international was on the pitch for Oleksandr Zinchenko’s goal, which clinched the three points for the Gunners in a 3-1 victory. In the 83rd minute, however, Vieira was shown a straight red card for a studs-up challenge on Burnley midfielder Josh Brownhill.

The dismissal means that the midfielder, who arrived at the Emirates Stadium for £34m in the summer of 2022, cannot play in the Premier League until the Gunners’ trip to Aston Villa on 9th December. It represents a difficult time in north London since Vieira arrived from FC Porto. The attacking midfielder’s signing was considered a coup. He had scored six league goals in 15 starts for the Portuguese giants the previous season.

But Vieira has struggled to break into Arteta’s side and has frequently been utilised off the bench or saved for early-stage cup ties. However, earlier this season, journalist Dean Jones told GIVEMESPORT that the 23-year-old’s positive start to the season had been a ‘pleasant surprise.’

Paul Brown update – Fabio Vieira

Brown thinks the worst possible thing to happen to Vieira in his appearance against Burnley was to be dismissed and given a three-match suspension. The journalist has described the attacking midfielder as a “bit of an outsider.” Brown told GIVEMESPORT:

“Vieira is probably kicking himself that it didn't go well. I'm sure he wants to start every week in that team. The worst possible thing for him was to get a red card and be suspended. It takes any momentum he was trying to build away. He must start from scratch again now. He's been a bit of an outsider looking in at times because of all the other players in the team competing for his position. So, he knows he's up against it this season. I think he’ll still get chances; he must be patient.”

Next steps for Vieira

The current international break means Vieira cannot make a Premier League appearance for nearly a month. The Portuguese talent will be counting down the days. He must take this extended layoff as an opportunity to gather his thoughts and ensure he’s ready to step straight into the team in December.

Vieira will be offered respite in the Champions League, given domestic suspensions don’t carry over into continental competitions. Arsenal welcome Lens in their penultimate fixture of the group stage. A win will secure their place at the top of the group and ensure their progression to the last 16 of the competition as a seeded team.

Arsenal’s upcoming fixtures

Following this weekend’s break for international fixtures, the matches come thick and fast until March. Arsenal return to action when they make the short trip to west London to take on Brentford. The Bees were defeated 3-1 by Liverpool last weekend and hope to use the ensuing downtime to assess their performance and prepare a response against the Gunners.

After their Champions League match with Lens, Arsenal will kick off December by hosting Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Emirates Stadium on the 2nd. Wolves were dispatched 5-0 in the same fixture last season, and the capital club will hope to replicate that dominant performance in a few weeks.

The Gunners then travel to Kenilworth Road to face Luton Town before heading north to the West Midlands to take on high-flying Aston Villa, where Vieira hopes to return to action.