Like everyone else in the League, we are going into an invedible month where we play every single 3/4 days, and there is the clear and obvious danger of fatigue and injuries setting in, and for Arsenal our treatment list was pretty bad before the glut even started.
We luckily got a few of our players back during the funeral and international break, but one of those, Oleks Zinchenko, looks like he is still suffering the aftereffects and is unlikely to be available for tomorrows game at Leeds. Arteta was asked if he was still on the unavailable list: “I think so.” he replied. “With Oleks, I don’t know, he has not been on the pitch yet. So we have to be a little bit calm.”
Well, we certainly hope that he regains some fitness before we play PSV on Thursday, as we will need to rest as many first teamers as possible but still get the three points needed to guarantee top spot in the Group Table.
But we still have Kieran Tierney and perhaps Tomiyasu to cover that spot, but a lot more worrying news is that Gabriel Jesus is also a doubt after getting concussed in last weeks physical encounter with Liverpool. Arteta said in the pre-match presser when asked if Jesus was recovered: “I don’t know, obviously he has some discomfort after the game against Liverpool and that’s why we decided not to bring him in [to Norway], so let’s see how he is tomorrow and Saturday.”
This would be a big blow for Arsenal if he misses the game, but we at least have Nketiah in reserve. If we lost both of them we could be in serious trouble.
Unless, of course, maybe this is just Arteta playing Wenger-style mind games!
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