Arsenal could have Gabriel, Leandro Trossard and Oleksandr Zinchenko fit for Sunday’s clash with Crystal Palace - but still have huge concern over William Saliba.
The Gunners endured a bruising evening against Sporting Lisbon on Thursday as their run in the Europa League was abruptly ended. Saliba suffered an injury during the last-16 second leg, with the French centre-back withdrawn alongside Takehiro Tomiyasu during the first half.
Mikel Arteta's side will be attempting to overcome their European disappointment this weekend as they focus on their Premier League title fight by taking on managerless Crystal Palace. Fortunately, they could have a few of their wounded to call upon for the game.
As per Metro, Trossard, Magalhaes and Zinchenko are ‘winning the race’ to be fit for the clash at Emirates Stadium. However, the news isn’t so good for Tomiyasu or Saliba.
The Japanese international is out after leaving the game against Sporting on crutches. Saliba also looks likely for an extended spell on the sidelines.
The Frenchman is set to undergo further tests to evaluate his back injury but the early signs are not promising. Reports from his home country have suggested that he will be restricted to the sidelines for a few weeks and thus will be forced to withdraw from the most recent France squad.
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His absence would certainly be a big blow considering that he has started every Premier League game for the Gunners this season. Arteta has not yet officially confirmed how long his players will be out for but did not seem particularly upbeat ahead of further tests.
Speaking after the defeat by Sporting Lisbon, the Spaniard said: “I don’t know. Tomiyasu looks pretty serious from his reaction straight and what he said to me, but obviously, it’s very early.
“Willy? I don’t know, he had some discomfort and could not continue so we had to take him out.”
The Gunners boss then further bemoaned his side’s misfortune with a number of their key players having suffered long-term problems throughout the campaign.
He added: “We’ve been carrying injuries throughout the season. We had Emile [Smith Rowe] out for four months, [Gabriel] Jesus for four months, Thomas [Partey] for a month and a half, Alex [Zinchenko] for two and half months, Eddie [Nketiah] for a month and a half.
“We had quite a lot of injuries already, but we dealt with them. The disappointment is not going to go away it’s there now. But there’s also clarity. It’s 11 games to go now and we have a final against Crystal Palace. We have to recover and put all the focus there and win.”
