Arsenal's luck with availability has been rotten this season. Of Mikel Arteta's entire squad, only Jakub Kiwior hasn't missed a game due to injury, suspension or ineligibility.
Thankfully the Gunners seem to have left their habit for picking up red cards firmly in the rear view mirror. When it comes to injuries though, they haven't been so lucky.
Ben White is out until next year at the very least after sustaining a knee injury. Arteta has already confirmed it could be much longer than that.
"Ben is gonna be out for months unfortunately," the Spaniard [confirmed in November](https://www.football.london/arsenal-fc/news/mikel-arteta-issues-huge-ben-30427599). "It's been different kinds of struggles. It's never been the same thing. We had to make a decision. It’s not been improving in the last few weeks unfortunately.
"We know that Ben is going to push every boundary but it got to a point a where we have to protect the player and we decided to do the surgery. He agreed with that and unfortunately that’s going to keep him out for a few months."
Takehiro Tomiyasu is also out for the foreseeable with a knee problem of his own. The Japanese international has now left the UK as he seeks to find a new focus in his rehabilitation.
"He is going to be away now for a few weeks to continue with his treatment and as well change a little bit the environment, because psychologically it has been really, really tough for him - as you can imagine," Arteta said. "He is a guy that the only thing he wants to do is work 24 hours to get better and he feels terrible when he is not fit.
"It's a real shame, so we are going to give him the best opportunity to try out that kind of thing. If it can trigger something, unlock something and try to help him, to have him as quick as possible back - but I think we need to be patient."
Cruelly for the Gunners, they are sweating over the fitness of three more of their defenders. Gabriel, Riccardo Calafiori and Oleksandr Zinchenko were all absent as they dropped crucial points against Fulham on Sunday.
The former pair had missed the match prior against Manchester United after coming off early in the 5-2 win over West Ham. Zinchenko, meanwhile, was absent after starting his first Premier League game since the opening day of the season against United.
The injuries have not been confirmed as major though and Arteta is hopeful that all three could return for Wednesday's Champions League clash with Monaco. "I hope \[they can return\]," Arteta said at Craven Cottage on Sunday.
"But it's more a question for the doctors and physios to understand where we are. We are missing a lot of players in the backline. The good thing is that whatever we put there they respond. They respond with a good attitude and performance."
Arsenal have had to field nine different backlines in just 15 Premier League matches this season. White Arteta doesn't want to make excuses he does admit that this has been an issue for his side.
"We know that when we have consistency there how much it's giving us," he said. "That's a different season. It's bringing different challenges. We're trying to face them and we’re going to continue in that direction."