Mikel Arteta's Arsenal injury worries look to have increased again with two new blows coming to light before the Champions League clash against Monaco. The Gunners have been hit by key absences throughout the first few months of the 2024/25 campaign, but those looked to have alleviated in recent weeks.
With that being said, **Gabriel Magalhaes** and **Riccardo Calafiori** have both missed the last two games with the former picking up his issue in the European triumph away at Sporting.
The defensive duo were taken off early in the 5-2 win against West Ham in late November and were subsequently absent for the win over Manchester United and last weekend's draw against Everton. The hope appears to be that both will be available for selection again over the coming weeks but their continued absence is certainly a concern.
In open training on Tuesday, neither were spotted out on the grass at London Colney with **Jurrien Timber, Thomas Partey** and **Oleksandr Zinchenko** also nowhere to be seen. **Ben White** and **Takehiro Tomiyasu** were also missing but that was expected given they are the stars missing because of long-term injury issues.
Zinchenko was not included in the matchday squad to face Fulham but both Partey and Timber played 90 minutes at full-back. [The fact that another two new injury concerns have emerged in a position already plagued with absences could be a potentially huge blow for Arteta.](https://www.football.london/arsenal-fc/fixtures-results/breaking-arsenal-dealt-fresh-double-30552888)
With that in mind, [the Arsenal boss was on hand to provide an injury update, while not mentioning any players specifically, ahead of Monaco.](https://www.football.london/arsenal-fc/players/mikel-arteta-provides-injury-update-30555253)
"We have to manage a lot of the players," he said in a press conference. "Some of them probably aren’t going to be fit. Some are still a doubt. We have 24 hours to make a decision and hopefully it’ll be the right ones." The load management comment could well be in reference to Partey and Timber given their recent injury problems.
As for Gabriel and Calafiori, a clear hint on how serious their respective injuries are will be dropped once Arsenal's squad is released at roughly 6:45pm on Wednesday evening.