As the Arsenal team sheet was announced on Sunday it is fair to say that supporters were not best pleased.
Piers Morgan perhaps summed up the sentiments of many members of Gunners fan base by sending a tweet that he has since issued a public apology for.
Saka, Partey and Aubameyang all on the bench? Against Leicester?" It read.
Wrong call, Arteta. This is a 6pt game - we should be putting out our best team from the start, or have we given up on Top4?"
One man fans were almost unanimously excited to see return to the starting line up though was Nicolas Pepe.
Since the end of January the Ivorian has been in sublime form, scoring four goals in his last seven Premier League starts.
As well as his efficiency in attack though his defensive output has also improved to an extent that Arteta has been keen to sign his praises in public.
“I’m very excited about what he can bring (in the future) and what he’s bringing to the team this season,” the Spaniard said.
I think he’s made a click and I think he realises what he needs to do for the team when we don’t have the ball.
“I’m so pleased today, you’ve seen his defensive actions were incredible with what he’s doing, and then with the ball he gives us that creativity and flair that we need and big teams need."
Concurrent with Pepe's upturn in form was a positional change from the right wing over to left.
In games against Southampton and Wolves the 25-year-old really stood out with his impressive attacking potency over on his unfavoured flank and when he shifted back to his usual right side against Mancehster City he found it difficult to really get into the game.
And yet despite being put on the right again at the King Power Stadium on Sunday the Ivorian was still able to win a penalty and score the Gunners' third goal.
So what changed?
Well to answer this it is worth taking a look at who was behind him on the pitch against Leicester.
Included among the six changes that Arteta made was to bring in Cedric Soares for Hector Bellerin at right-back.
Bellerin has generally been the established first choice right-back this season, but Cedric's impressive run of performances over on the left in the absence of Kieran Tierney have led many to call for the 29-year-old to start in his preferred position now that the Scottish international is fully fit again.
On Sunday, Cedric was given a chance to make this exact case and he grabbed it with both hands.
Up against the tricky task of Harvey Barnes and Jamie Vardy, who have scored a combined 27 goals for Leicester already this season, the Portuguese international stood up well recovering possession four times, making two tackles, two clearances and a further three interceptions.
Equally impressive though was Cedric's attacking impact on the game.
No player put in more crosses from open play during the match than his impressive tally of five.
His tireless overlapping runs are something of a contrast to the performances of Hector Bellerin this season.
The Spaniard has been instructed to come further infield as Arteta looks to implement Pep Guardiola-style inverted full-backs at the Emirates in order to provide more options to the midfield in the build-up.
As a result though Nicolas Pepe has often found himself isolated on the right wing. As a player with well-renowned dribbling ability he is regularly doubled up on by opposition defenders anyway, so the already difficult task of getting past them is made even trickier by the lack of support.
Against Leicester though this was not the case as Cedric consistently got beyond the Ivorian to allow him to come infield and cause damage.
The link up play between the pair is evidenced by the fact that they found each other 25 times during the match - more than any other passing combination between a duo of players on the day.
By way of comparison Bellerin and Pepe's number of connections the week before against City did not even rank in the Gunners' top five.
Of course there are questions as to whether this partnership will be given too much of a chance to continue.
Mikel Arteta has kept his cards close to his chest when it comes to who he favours in the right-back position.
"I think everybody has to compete with each other," he said before the Europa League round of 32 second leg against Benfica.
"I think Cedric has done really well.
We’ve got Calum (Chambers) now who has been training really well in the last three to four weeks as well and looks completely ready to step in so everybody has to play at their best level and we’re going to have to rotate players as well with the amount of games that we have."
There is also the unavoidable factor of how impressive Bukayo Saka has been since he was switch over to the right wing. The fact that the 19-year-old has five goals and five assists since being moved to that position, means that if Pepe is going to start regularly for Arsenal then it is likely that he will have to do so on the left.
But if the Gunners boss does decide to stick with the Ivorian in his preferred position, then Cedric may prove the perfect partner at right back to ensure the club's record signing is able to finally deliver regularly on his undoubted potential.
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