Arsenal’s season is at risk of running off the rails.
Five points behind leaders Liverpool in the Premier League and knocked out of the FA Cup by Jurgen Klopp’s side amid a worrying lack of goals, Mikel Arteta needs to turn things around.
The Gunners remain in the title race of course but three games without a win has derailed their attempts to go one better this season having come so close last time out.
If Arteta is going to make up the ground on Liverpool and a Manchester City side who appear to be clicking into gear, there is little doubt he will need all of his key players available.
With that in mind, here’s a look at the latest Arsenal injuries…
Gabriel Jesus
Gabriel Jesus missed the loss to Liverpool on Sunday with a knee injury.
Though perhaps not the prolific goalscorer fans will have been calling for, the Brazilian is so important to the cause.
Arteta is hopeful the problem is not serious but the club are still waiting to see exactly how severe it is.
“He had some pain in his knee, so we did a scan and it showed something,” he said on Sunday.
“Hopefully it is not something big, it’s the same knee that he had [previously injured] so we cannot take any risks. Hopefully not [a big injury].”
Potential return date: Unknown
Oleksandr Zinchenko
Oleksandr Zinchenko has been missing since the New Year’s Eve defeat at Fulham with a calf problem.
There was some hope the defender may have been fit for the Liverpool loss in the FA Cup but he again sat out.
“He’s progressing well. We have another training session tomorrow,” Arteta said last week.
“We’ll evaluate if he’s available to play and ready to start the game.”
Potential return date: Unknown
Thomas Partey
Last week, Arteta was hopeful Thomas Partey was only weeks away from making a comeback.
The Ghana international has not played since injuring his thigh back in October and was duly left out of their squad for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations.
The 30-year-old is still not in full training with the rest of his squad after it was decided exerting caution about his injury was the best way forward.
“It was about common sense,” said boss Arteta, when asked about Partey’s absence from the Ghana squad.
“He had a long-term injury. He was trying to push his rehab because he really wanted to be with his national team, but he’s still far from training with the team and it didn’t make sense for him to be involved.”
Potential return date: Unknown
Fabio Vieira
Vieira injured his groin back in November and has since undergone surgery.
Arteta is hopeful of having the midfielder back by the end of this month.
“He’s doing well again, but it was a surgery that required two different things to get results,” said the Gunners boss.
“The first signs are good, obviously he is still a bit far from where we want him, but he needs to keep working and hopefully in the next few weeks we can have him [available].”
Potential return date: January 2024
Jurrien Timber
Summer signing Jurrien Timber suffered an ACL injury on his Premier League debut back in August and faces a battle to even play again this season.
“Unfortunately, [Jurrien] is a very long-term injury,” added the Gunners boss.
“He is doing really well but he is still far from being fit to train with the team, or something to compete with the team so we don’t expect him back anytime soon."
