Both Aaron Ramsdale and Fabio Vieira were omitted from the Arsenal squad that traveled to Chelsea on Saturday.

As with each Premier League match day, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was able to name a 20-man squad, made up of his starting XI and full complement of substitutes, on Saturday. On this occasion, neither Fabio Vieira or Aaron Ramsdale were amongst the traveling party.

In the case of Ramsdale, there is a very straightforward reason as to why he was not involved with the group. The 25-year-old goalkeeper, and his wife Georgina, welcomed their baby boy into the world very recently.

The north London club confirmed on Saturday that Ramsdale was taking time off due to the birth.

Vieira’s absence, though, seems to have been a tactical decision by Arteta.

According to Football.London, the £34 million former Porto man is fully fit and available. However, Arteta preferred to have the likes of Leandro Trossard, Emile Smith Rowe, and Reiss Nelson on his bench, instead of the 23-year-old.

Where does Fabio Vieira now stand at Arsenal?

Whilst his exclusion is not yet a reason for alarm, it does suggest that Arteta may have lost a little faith in Vieira, for the time being at least.

Early on in the season, the midfielder looked to be in form and full of confidence. In exciting and productive cameos from the bench against Fulham and Manchester United he provided assists and looked to finally be capable of producing his best in the Premier League.

However, he failed to impress when handed a more prominent role against Tottenham Hotspur, and was allowed only a brief period to impact the game against Bournemouth. He did not come off the bench against Manchester City, and was left behind for the trip to Chelsea.

There are certainly still some remaining doubts about Vieira.

Smith Rowe was given over 20 minutes to impress at Stamford Bridge. Perhaps the Hale End academy graduate is now ahead of Vieira in the pecking order.

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