Arsenal have confirmed defender Laura Wienroither has ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament, with the Austria international becoming the fourth player at the club to suffer an ACL injury this season.
Wienroither went down in the 82nd minute of Arsenal’s defeat to Wolfsburg in the Women’s Champions League semi-finals at the Emirates on Monday and the 24-year-old had to be stretched off the pitch.
Subsequent scans have revealed the extent of the damage and Wienroither, who will undergo surgery, is set to be sidelined “for an extended period”.
Leah Williamson, Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema have all had ACL injuries this season, with manager Jonas Eidevall calling for action last month as England captain Williamson was ruled out of the World Cup.
An Arsenal statement added: “Everyone at the club will now be supporting Laura and working hard to support her recovery and return to action.”
The loss of Williamson, who suffered her ACL injury in an away defeat at Manchester United last month, sparked fresh discussions over the extent of ACL injuries in the women’s game.
Women’s footballers are six times more likely to suffer a non-contact ACL injury compared to their male counterparts and a lack of research into the issue means there is no clear consensus into why that is the case.
Eidevall said last month: “We have to look at where the sport is heading and we can see that there are more competitive games, more intensity than there’s ever been before and we know that’s only going to increase.
“When we know that it’s up to associations, governing bodies and clubs to say: we know that, we know this risk, what can we do? What can we learn from what has been? Are there things we can change and things we can do to better adapt to that situation? Hopefully there is.
“I might be wrong, but I don’t think Arsenal women ever have played as many competitive games within such a restricted period of time [as in recent months] and of course that’s going to put new demands on the players and teams. We need to adapt to that reality.”
Arsenal face Leicester City on Friday with the Gunners turning their attention to qualifying for next season’s Champions league following their semi-final defeat to Wolfsburg.
