Mikel Arteta has restricted who Arsenal players can pick in Fantasy Premier League after fans spotted a clue in Christos Tzolis’s fantasy team that the Greek winger was set to return from injury against Liverpool at Anfield.
According to now.arsenal, Arteta told players and staff to leave Arsenal players out of their fantasy squads, though they can still play the game and pick players from other Premier League clubs.
How Tzolis tipped fans off before the Liverpool match
Tzolis was a doubt for the Liverpool match after missing six games with a hamstring injury sustained on international duty with Greece, but before the official line-up was announced, fans tracking his fantasy team noticed that he had picked himself alongside Arsenal teammates Riccardo Calafiori and Ezri Konsa.
Fans took the move as a sign that Tzolis expected to feature, and the official team sheet confirmed he would start in a match Arsenal won thanks to Kai Havertz’s 16th-minute goal, with Alisson saving an effort from the Greek winger.
How Tzolis changed his fantasy team after Arteta’s decision
Ahead of the Hull City match, Tzolis played his Wildcard, which allows unlimited transfers in a single gameweek without a points deduction, and rebuilt his squad without a single Arsenal player, while now.arsenal reported that a member of the club’s staff had also removed every Arsenal player from their fantasy team.
The game had given fans the opposite clue in 2021, when several Aston Villa players and staff dropped Jack Grealish from their fantasy squads before facing Leicester City, leading fans to pick up on his injury before kick-off and manager Dean Smith to open an internal investigation into the leak.
