Games continue to come thick and fast for Arsenal as they host Monaco in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
Though with another defensive injury concern, it remains to be seen what team Mikel Arteta selects at the Emirates Stadium.
Already without Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu ahead of the London derby at Fulham, which saw them held to a 1-1 draw, neither Gabriel Magalhaes or Riccardo Calafiori were deemed fit enough to return whilst Oleksandr Zinchencko missed out too.
Those absences resulted in a defensive reshuffle against Fulham as the Gunners dropped two points which could be costly in their bid to celebrate Premier League glory at the end of the season.
With that in mind, here’s the latest Arsenal injury news.
Gabriel
The Brazilian has now missed Arsenal’s last two games after being withdrawn at half-time during the win over West Ham United.
Speaking after the 1-1 draw with Fulham, Arteta did say he was hopeful of having Gabriel - as well as Calafiori and Zinchenko - available for selection against Monaco on Wednesday night.
“I hope, but it’s more a question for the doctors and physios to understand where we are,” the Spaniard said. “We are missing a lot of players in the backline. The good thing is that whatever we put there they respond. They respond with a good attitude and performance.
“We know that when we have consistency there [in defence] how much it’s giving us. That’s a different season. It’s bringing different challenges. We’re trying to face them and we’re going to continue in that direction.”
Potential return date: Monaco (h) on Wednesday, December 11, 2024
Riccardo Calafiori
The summer signing is in the same predicament as Gabriel as he too hasn’t featured since limping out of the 5-2 win over the Hammers.
Whilst Arteta is hopeful of welcoming Riccardo Calafiori back for the Champions League clash, he does have options at left-back in Jurrien Timber, Myles Lewis-Skelly and the fit again Kieran Tierney.
Potential return date: Monaco (h) on Wednesday, December 11, 2024
Oleksandr Zinchenko
The Ukraine international was somewhat of a surprise absentee from the matchday squad against Fulham especially after starting the 2-0 win over Manchester United a few days prior.
But it was confirmed ahead of kick-off that he picked up an injury.
“He got injured as well unfortunately so we are missing four left full-backs,” Arteta said. “Adapt[ing] is the sort of thing you have to go through in a season and I am sure we will be fine.”
The hope is that he will be fine for the visit of Monaco.
Potential return date: Monaco (h) on Wednesday, December 11, 2024
Ben White
The defender went under the knife last month to solve a knee problem, and Mikel Arteta recently confirmed the procedure was a success but will sideline White for months.
“Still early days,” he said in late November. “The surgery went really well, there is no reaction after that.
“He is improving day by day but it is a process for the first four to six weeks, where we have to be really cautious and don’t put any stress on that knee.
“Then we will see how quickly he can recover and how it reacts after that.”
Potential return date: Early 2025
Takehiro Tomiyasu
The defender missed the first couple of months of the season with a knee injury suffered over the summer, and then made a brief return off the bench against Southampton in early October only to suffer another setback that has kept him sidelined ever since.
There is still no timeline for the Japan defender’s potential return, with Arteta revealing before the win over Forest that he was now set for a change of scenery in a bid to try and aid his recovery.
“Tomiyasu is going to be out for a bit,” Arteta said. “He’s going to be away now for a few weeks for him to continue with his training and to change his environment a little bit because it’s been really tough for him as you can imagine.
“He’s one of the guys where the only thing he wants to do is to work 24 hours to get better and he feels terrible when he’s not fit, so it’s a real shame. We’re going to give him the best opportunity to try and unlock something to help him to have him back as quickly as possible, but I think we need to be patient.”
Potential return date: Early 2025
