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Cape Town - Unai Emery says he plans to utilise Mesut Ozil over the coming weeks after the German made an impressive return to the Arsenal first-team against Liverpool.
Former Real Madrid star Ozil had been left out in the cold by Emery over recent weeks, but he returned to the Arsenal fold for Wednesday’s Carabao Cup fourth-round clash at Anfield, a match the Gunners lost on penalties after it remarkably finished 5-5 at the end of 90 minutes.
Ozil was making just his third appearance of the season during the match and first since September, but despite his lack of minutes he appeared to be on top form, particularly when skilfully setting up one of Arsenal’s goals for Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
Emery was certainly happy with the 31-year-old’s display, admitting he now plans to use him once again when the Gunners play host to Wolves in the Premier League on Saturday.
"I think he played very well. Tonight, you’ve seen he is a skilful player in the team and he was very positive every time and I think he played a very good match," Emery told reporters after Wednesday’s game.
"We have a match on Saturday and we will look at the possibility to use him again alongside other players and this is the way sometimes."
There was some surprise when Ozil was replaced by Matteo Guendouzi midway through the second-half at Anfield, but Emery confirmed they had always planned to make that substitution given the former German international’s lack of minutes over the opening weeks of the season.
"We spoke before the match, and we made the decision in the second half to take him off because he hasn’t played for a little while and we want to keep his fitness as he was very tired but for him, it was great to play 60/65 minutes," the Spaniard added.
Ozil has made nearly 250 appearances across all competitions since joining Arsenal from Real Madrid in 2013, but he continues to be a player that divides opinion at the Emirates Stadium.
- TeamTalk Media
