Unai Emery: Mesut Ozil and Sokratis Rested for Frankfurt Europa League Match

Arsenal manager Unai Emery has confirmed that neither Mesut Ozil nor Sokratis Papastathopoulos will feature in the team's UEFA Europa League showdown with Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday. 

Both players were involved in the Gunners' thrilling 2-2 draw with Watford in the Premier League on Sunday. For Ozil, it was his first competitive start of the season.

Despite that, neither are in the travelling squad for what promises to be a challenging match at the Commerzbank-Arena, and Emery said both have been rested rather than dropped, per Sky Sports:

"Sokratis and Mesut (are) rested for that match. We're going to play another match on Sunday.

"My decision is because he (Ozil) played, I'm thinking (of) tomorrow's first XI and after that deciding who can be the best for tomorrow. The first match he played on Sunday he played good with his capacity and skills, his first minutes for us was good. Now he is going to be helping us. Sunday we are going to play another match."

Against Watford, it was an afternoon of differing fortunes for Ozil and Sokratis, with the Gunners surrendering a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at Vicarage Road.

The former was involved in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's second goal. His pinpoint pass released Ainsley Maitland-Niles, who squared to the centre-forward to tap in. The Arsenal Twitter account shared the goal, noting the Gabon star's brilliant record:

Ozil played 71 minutes at Watford, and while he was typically smart in possession, neither he nor the rest of the midfielders were able to get a grip on the game by the time Watford started to apply significant pressure to the Arsenal defence.

Given his lack of time on the field, Thursday's fixture seemed an ideal chance to give Ozil some minutes, even as a possible substitute. It means Emery's decision to leave him out of the squad entirely will raise eyebrows.

Mark Mann-Bryans of the Press Association said he doesn't think the former Germany international has a future at the Emirates Stadium:

Football journalist Nick Ames offered another potential reason for Ozil's absence but called on Emery to address the issue head on:

Sokratis' omission makes more sense. Not only has the Greek defender played every minute of the Gunners' season so far, he also made a major error on Sunday that allowed Watford back into the game. Some extra time to recuperate and refocus should assist the Borussia Dortmund man.

Thursday's game will be a test for Arsenal, who were runners-up in the Europa League last season. Frankfurt were knocked out of the previous edition of the competition at the semi-final stage by eventual winners Chelsea, and their fanbase will provide a raucous backdrop to the action.