West Ham United FC v Arsenal FC - Premier League
Gabriel has missed Arsenal’s last two games with a mystery injury
Gabriel Magalhaes remains a major doubt for Arsenal’s Champions League showdown against Monaco this evening.
The Brazil international has been in outstanding form this season at the heart of his side’s defence alongside William Saliba, while the threat he offers from set pieces has represented a major bonus.
After hobbling off during the closing stages of the 5-1 win over Sporting Lisbon a fortnight ago, the 26-year-old managed 45 minutes in the subsequent win over West Ham but was substituted at half-time.
Gabriel has since missed the games against Manchester United and Fulham with Mikel Arteta playing his cards close to his chest as to the extent of the injury.
Speaking ahead of tonight’s game against Monaco, however, the Arsenal boss was a little more forthcoming and revealed his centre-half is struggling with a muscle injury.
He said: ‘Big Gabi has not had a muscular injury [before, but] he is playing a lot now, he is travelling, going to Brazil, he is a starter with Brazil.’
Riccardo Calafiori, too, remains a doubt and Arteta admits he is having to hold the Italy international back given how desperate he is to make his return.
West Ham United FC v Arsenal FC - Premier League
Riccardo Calafiori has also struggled with injuries this season
‘We need a cage there because he wants to go out, train and play,’ said Arteta. ‘We need to calm him down because he is so willing.
‘It is the way he is, the way he plays. It started with the national team with a kick, then he had the knee issue.
‘After that he lost a lot of things. Because of the injuries he had to play more than we wanted. And then he got the issue in his groin.’
So ravaged are Arsenal by injuries that Kieran Tierney, who hasn’t played for the club since May 2003, could be handed a lifeline this evening.
‘Yeah, he is ready and he’s training really well and he’s going to have an opportunity for sure with the way the team is looking at the moment,’ said Arteta.
Sporting Clube de Portugal v Arsenal FC - UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD5
Kieran Tierney could get a rare opportunity to play for Arsenal against Monaco
‘It’s for that reason and because he’s earned it as well with the way he’s behaved and the way he’s been with us because he’s willing to do it and when that happens you have to give opportunities to those kind of players.’
On the frustrations of the seemingly never-ending injury crisis he added: ‘Well it’s a knock-on effect. We have a lot of joint injuries that are very difficult to predict.
‘We have some through tackles for example that again are quite difficult to predict.
‘The other one probably is overload – the amount of minutes to play. The knock-on effect of not having one or two players available means it puts more strain and minutes on somebody else.
‘That’s not a good change because the consequences and load of all the players starts to be too high, much higher than what you want to do, but it is where we are.’
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