Arsenal have been dealt a fresh scare on the injury front.
The Gunners have returned from the international break in fine fettle, following up their impressive 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Saturday by thrashing Sporting Lisbon 5-1 on Tuesday night.
It has given Mikel Arteta fresh hope after a dip in form before the break and the return of captain Martin Odegaard from injury cannot be understated. Kieran Tierney, meanwhile, finally returned to the bench for the win in the Portuguese capital to offer another welcome boost.
Still, as has seemingly been the case for Arsenal all season, injury problems remain.
Gabriel Magalhaes – who scored the third for the Gunners on Tuesday night – was forced off towards the closing stages of the game.
With Takehiro Tomiyasu and Ben White also out of action, Arteta is low on defensive numbers heading into the frantic festive schedule.
Having said that, here’s a look at the latest on Arsenal injuries…
Gabriel
Key defender Gabriel missed the final six minutes of the victory against Sporting after feeling some “discomfort.”
The defender will need to be assessed ahead of Saturday’s trip to West Ham.
Speaking after the game, Arteta said: “We don’t know [the extent of his injury], because he said that he was feeling some discomfort.”
Potential return date: Unknown
Ben White
White is the exception to Arsenal’s vastly improved injury picture, with the versatile defender having dealt with multiple issues over several weeks leading into the last international break, when the decision was made to send him for a knee procedure.
It was initially unclear exactly how much time White would miss, before Arteta confirmed before the win over Forest that he was facing months on the sidelines.
"Ben White is going to be out for months, unfortunately," he said. "It's been different kinds of struggles, never the same thing.
"We had to make a decision, it hasn't been improving in the last few weeks. We know Ben is going to push every boundary, but it got to a point where we had to protect the player.
"We decided to do surgery, he agreed with that and that's going to keep him out for a few months.
"We have to see how he reacts post-surgery, I don't expect it to be half a year but I can't say exactly how long it will be."
Potential return date: Early 2025
Takehiro Tomiyasu
White’s absence is compounded by that of Takehiro Tomiyasu, who missed the first couple of months of the season with a knee injury suffered over the summer and made a brief return off the bench against Southampton in early October before suffering 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 as well 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: Unknown
