Mikel Arteta’s plan for this international break was to spend most of it “praying” that Arsenal’s injury curse would not strike again.
Arteta has described the season so far as “an absolute nightmare” when it has come to keeping players fit and things have not got much better since he made those comments after the 1-1 draw at Chelsea over a week ago.
Ben White has undergone a minor surgical procedure to solve a knee issue and Leandro Trossard was forced off when playing for Belgium on Sunday.
International breaks have been especially punishing for Arsenal.
The Gunners have had five players injured while playing for their countries and, in total, they have missed 22 games as a result.
The biggest casualty was Martin Odegaard, who missed 12 matches after injuring his ankle playing for Noway in September.
But Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Riccardo Calafiori were all struck down while away on international duty, too.
Arsenal will be hoping that Trossard is not added to that list and the forward will be assessed by the club when he returns to them this week.
The statistics support how the Gunners have been hit hard by injuries this season.
Data supplied by Premier Injuries to Sky Sports shows how Arsenal rank fourth in the Premier League when it comes to days out players have spent due to injury.
As of November 13, Arteta’s side had lost 297 days to injured players being out, with only Brighton, Ipswich and Crystal Palace worse hit than that.
It is a similar story when it comes to injuries forcing players to miss at least one match. Arsenal have had that on 10 occasions, which makes them the sixth-worst-hit club in that regard.
Rivals Tottenham lead the way after having it happen to them 13 times.
The injury crisis Arsenal have faced this season is in stark contrast to the previous two years, when they challenged for the title.
During the 2022-23 season, the Gunners had such a good track record with injuries that Arteta named an unchanged team on 13 occasions - more than any other Premier League side.
Across the season he made just 38 changes to his team, which was 16 more than the next least, Newcastle with 54.
Last season, Arsenal also fared well. They had 898 days lost to injury, which ranked as the seventh-best record in the Premier League, with 13 Premier League teams having totals stretching over 1,000 days.
Arsenal have had no such luck this year and that has been most apparent in defence. In just 11 league games, Arteta has already named seven different back-fours.
Arteta will hope Arsenal’s injury crisis eases going forward as his side return to action on Saturday against Nottingham Forest.
The Gunners are nine points off Premier League leaders Liverpool, but Arteta is refusing to concede defeat in the title race.
Arteta insists Arsenal are still in the hunt, but they must get their walking wounded back on their feet.
