Arsenal star Eddie Nketiah has been out of action for a couple of weeks with an ankle injury. Mikel Arteta confirmed the striker was still wearing a protective boot and provided a timeline of a few weeks ahead of the Gunners' Europa League exit against Sporting CP earlier this week.
The Arsenal boss said: "Yeah, he's getting better - he’s still in the boot. He’s still a few weeks away and we need to be patient. It was a nasty injury and he has a big challenge ahead of him. Thank God it’s not as bad as it could have been."
Gabriel Jesus' return from injury has softened the blow of losing Nketiah, with the Brazilian continuing to build up his match fitness after starting against Sporting on Thursday night. Jesus was sidelined with a knee injury since the World Cup in Qatar after completing a £45million move from Manchester City to the Emirates Stadium last summer.
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Arsenal could extend their advantage over City in the Premier League title race to eight points with a win against Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon. The north Londoners have just 11 games left to play as they aim to lift their first Premier League title since 2004 this season, facing a Palace side without a manager after Patrick Vieira was sacked this week.
Nketiah has offered a positive update on his recovery after posting a message on social media ahead of the clash against the Eagles. The Hale End graduate said: “Grafting! *muscle emoji* #SoonBack.”
Nketiah added another image to his Instagram story with the caption: “Rehab crew, monster mentality *brain emoji* *finger point emoji*."
The 23-year-old has scored nine goals and provided a further two assists for the Gunners so far this season. Arsenal are set to make a decision on William Saliba's fitness tomorrow after he was taken off with a back injury against Sporting, whilst Takehiro Tomiyasu is set to miss out with a knee injury after being replaced by Ben White in the ninth minute on Thursday night.
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