Arsenal will be without four first-team players for West Ham’s visit to the Emirates on Boxing Day, with three injuries to deal with.
We look forward to the return of the Premier League in just a few days, with the English top flight set to recommence just after Christmas Day, although we do not have a full squad of options at our disposal.
The Gunners will be without William Saliba, who is yet to make his return to the squad after his exploits with France at the World Cup, where his side were painfully beaten in a penalty shootout.
On top of that loss, we will also be without another key player in Gabriel Jesus, who is expected to miss the next few weeks. Emile Smith Rowe is still not back to 100%, while we also have Reiss Nelson’s latest injury to deal with also. The latter is expected to be missing for a few weeks also after succumbing to injury in the friendly with Juventus, as confirmed by Arteta in his pre-match press conference.
“With Gabby [Jesus] it’s very difficult to put a timeframe [on his recovery],” he said. “It was a significant injury and knowing him, I prefer not to give any dates away. With Reiss unfortunately he picked up an injury in the game against Juventus and he is going to be out for a while I think. Emile is close, he is starting to train again. He had a little setback but he is in a good place.
“I’m talking about weeks. Not a matter of days but it will be out for a few weeks. Let’s see how he reacts to the next few days but he felt something straight away, and with sprinters that’s not a good sign.”
It is a shame for Reiss, as he has only recently began to pick up minutes under Mikel Arteta this term before the World Cup, and will now have to start all over again. Our team has bigger issues to deal with however with both of Gab and Saliba both missing, with the pair having been firmly amongst our best players so far this term.
White will of course make a return to a central role, while Eddie Nketiah will likely get the nod in attack, changing the dynamic of our side a little.
Do you believe we could struggle without our stars?
Patrick
I heard talk of Tomi also being sidelined with a muscle injury.
Can anyone either confirm or rule this out please. I doubt that ESR and NELSON will be majorly missed, as neither has played much part at all this season.
But JESUS and SALIBA are major blows and , if TOMI is also out, that makes our Boxing Day game a more difficult one.
Strange how Saliba hasn’t made it his way back after 5 days seeing he didn’t play a major part in Frances path to the final .
Will be a big miss and if tomi is out then it looks like holding will be in the starting line up .
Hopefully zinchenko will be back as we look a better unit with him in the back line .
Nketiah.
Martinelli. Odegaard. Saka.
Xhaka. Partey.
Tierney. Gabriel. Holding. White.
Ramsdale.
Jesus, Saliba, Tomiyasu, and Zinchenko will be greatly missed.
Our Team is now a hospital ward,,, most injuries are caused by lack of physical training and fittiness
Saliba is the big miss for me.
Did he confirm Saliba out? Is this real news?
Yes.
Not from my knowledge. As far as i know he is available for Boxing day! Also there is nothing anywhere else about it but on this site.
It is clear Jesus, Smith Rowe and Nelson won’t be available.
As far as am concern the remaining of the team should be ready to burst bubbles on Boxing day.
What’s the issue surrounding Saliba, why is he not back training with the team, I suspect we are handling him with kids gloves.
The gaffer is not known for showing his hands , he certainly not going to show it this early to his former mentor.
Saka limped off against Luton after 28 mins…. 😬
When Mbappe who carried France all through to the final could return less than 72 hrs to psg, how come a player like has refused to return?
Later, they will like to respected and paid as big as Mbappe
How come Saliba hasn’t returned…afterall he played a fringe role in the French WC team. We shouldn’t underrate any team and every game must be taken like cup final. Mbappe could return to PSG without delay, I wonder why Saliba hasn’t returned.. This is how they start forming big boys…..