Arsenal’s record with injuries this season has been quite frankly, a joke. Thirteen different players have suffered problems, some being more key to Mikel Arteta’s plans than others for sure, but the total adds up to 98 games missed between them.
Arsenal suffered big losses last season too, at key times, with Jurrien Timber’s knee problem being the most damaging. He missed effectively all of his first season at the club with what many consider the worst injury a footballer can suffer.
As a result, he has been carefully managed but now faces a serious challenge as both his competing right-back options are out. Timber has already missed four other matches this season due to load-bearing issues related to the comeback from his other major injury.
In his stead it was often Ben White who would deputise, but the England international has suffered from knee and joint issues to a point where a decision was made during the last international break for him to undergo surgery to correct the problem. He has missed ten games already and is due to miss many more as a result.
Takehiro Tomiyasu has featured in just one game all season, a cameo against Southampton which clearly came too soon as he was then out again and has missed 21 games across the campaign in total. With both Tomiyasu and White out, it has put immense pressure on Timber to be available.
Made worse by issues at left-back he has had to cover the opposite flank. Riccardo Calafiori, signed in the summer, has missed eight games this season and is currently out again after numerous problems.
Oleksandr Zinchenko has missed eight games through injury himself but came back for the clash with Manchester United before getting injured again. Even youngster Myles Lewis-Skelly has only just returned from an injury while Kieran Tierney is yet to play a minute after missing 18 games with a serious hamstring problem and is so far yet to be given any match exposure at senior or youth level because of the frequency of games at the moment combined with the timing of his return.
Should Timber face another injury or be forced to the bench in need of rest, Arteta’s options are very limited. He has used Thomas Partey at right back with varied success but typically the club’s win rate drops below 50% when the Ghanaian is used in that position.
Youngster Josh Nichols made his competitive debut against Bolton in the League Cup and looked promising but throwing him into a Premier League game is a scary proposition as he is not yet thought of in the same bracket as Ethan Nwaneri or Lewis-Skelly. Calafiori has also played right-back but for the moment is out.
The last option would be to change the system, switch to a back three and use Bukayo Saka and one of the left-wingers as wing-backs instead. This would be a big surprise but it could be a case of needs-must.
Champions League and League Cup matches pepper the winter schedule and the FA Cup kicks off in the New Year with the two extra European games to worsen the fixture list. Arteta will have to find ways to cope and the January transfer window may indeed be needed to help with the ever-worsening situation.