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