Arsenal hope Cristhian Mosquera’s muscle injury is not a serious one after he missed the win over Chelsea.
The defender was forced off in the second-half of Arsenal’s victory at Villa Park on Monday night, though Mikel Arteta indicated at the time that was precautionary.
However, Mosquera did not train in the build-up to the London derby with Chelsea and he was not fit enough to make the matchday squad.
In his absence, Arsenal came from behind to win 2-1, responding to Morgan Rogers’ early volley with goals from Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard.
Arsenal now turn their attention to the Champions League trip to face Napoli on Wednesday night and Mosquera remains a doubt for that match.
"He had a muscular issue,” Arteta said.
“We think it is not too much but we need to wait and see in the next few days how it evolves."
With Mosquera unavailable, Ezri Konsa made his first start for Arsenal alongside Gabriel in the centre of defence.
His most telling contribution came in the second-half, when he flew into a huge sliding challenge on Morgan Rogers to stop a counter, one that was greeted with a massive roar by the Arsenal supporters.
"A very English tackle,” Arteta laughed.
“The crowd reacted immediately. I think you guys love that more than a goal sometimes."
Konsa made his debut off the bench against his former club at Villa Park but this was a step up for the 28-year-old after his £51million summer move.
Arsenal often left him one-on-one with Joao Pedro at the back and it was a tough test. Arteta hailed the way he stood up to it.
“I think he played 11 minutes [before this match], he had five or six training sessions,” Arteta said.
“The way he played tonight against this opponent, playing man-to-man against Joao Pedro, he was phenomenal.”
