Arsenal have major worries over their defensive issues ahead of our clash with Newcastle, with doubts over both Ben White and Gabriel Magalhaes, and with Rob Holding suspended.
White has been out since picking up a hamstring injury prior to our recent win over West Ham, but was an unused substitute for the loss at Tottenham last night.
That match saw us lose Rob Holding to a suspension after he picked up two yellow cards, meaning he will now miss the clash with Newcastle on Monday, while Gabriel limped off and will need to be assessed to see if he will be available also.
Arteta confirmed after that he didn’t know the condition of the Brazilian defender, whilst adding that White hasn’t been able to train yet since returning to the squad.
He told Arsenal Media after the full-time whistle: “Gabi is normally not a player who wants to or asks to come off the pitch, he felt something and hopefully it’s not much, because having Rob out and Ben with no training sessions, obviously we are really short in that position.”
We could well see one of Takehiro Tomiyasu, Mo Elneny or Granit Xhaka having to fill in at centre-back on Monday depending on the conditions of White or Gabriel, but you would imagine that White would at least be back, which may allow us to continue with a back four.
Our numbers in central midfield are an issue also, which doesn’t make it any easier to consider using one of Elneny or Xhaka out of position, which could lead us to taking a risk on the condition on one of White or Gabriel even if they aren’t at 100%.
If one player had to play out of position at CB on Monday, who would you choose?
Patrick
Learn about your club’s history CLICK HERE to visit our new Arsenal History section
Video – Mikel Arteta on Tottenham, the referee and bad news on Gabriel