Arsenal's injury situation could be handed another blow after Oleksander Zinchenko missed the Gunners' Dubai Super Cup win over Olympique Lyonnais. The Ukrainian had been training in the Middle East with the rest of the non-World Cup stars but was nowhere to be seen on Thursday evening.
Zinchenko has enjoyed a strong start to life in north London after completing the switch from Manchester City in the summer. However, the 25-year-old has missed half of the Gunners' Premier League games this season with a knee problem and calf injury in October.
The Ukrainian returned to Mikel Arteta's side in the victories over Chelsea and Wolves prior to the World Cup and was on course to feature in Dubai this week during their mid-season, but he missed the victory in Dubai and has placed doubt over his potential availability.
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The Gunners make their return to domestic action in less than three weeks time and with the unfortunate news that striker Gabriel Jesus is set for a period on the sidelines, Zinchenko's possible absence only causes further mid-season headaches for Arteta.
The former Manchester City pair have been instrumental to Arsenal's rise to the top of the Premier League, bringing their title success experience to north London has worked wonders so far for the club. However, missing both of them in the second half of the season could play a damaging toll on the Gunners' title charge.
It remains unclear whether the 25-year-old will be absent from the West Ham game on Boxing Day. Tuesday's game against AC Milan could provide more information on the fitness of the full-back ahead of the club's return to England to face Juventus on Saturday December 17.
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