Mikel Arteta has been handed mixed results regarding injuries with a double concern eased but some issues still clear. Six players missed the open training session at London Colney on Tuesday with Thomas Partey and Jurrien Timber as new absentees.
Minimal was given away by Arteta on his full-backs for the clash against Fulham last weekend, but both featured against Monaco in the Champions League on Wednesday. The likes of Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu were never expected to play having been ruled out until the new year by Arteta.
As for Gabriel Magalhaes and Riccardo Calafiori, the defensive duo are still missing and are therefore major doubts to face Everton this weekend. With that being said, football.london has taken a look at the latest Arsenal injury news as the Gunners are back at Emirates Stadium for a Premier League clash on Saturday.
Gabriel
Injury: Muscular.
Gabriel Magalhaes came off early against West Ham in late November. He picked up the initial issue that previous week against Sporting CP and has since missed Premier League games against Manchester United and Fulham. The Brazil international remained absent for the Champions League clash against Monaco.
What Arteta has said: "We have to manage a lot of the players. 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."
"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."
Possible return date: Everton (H) - Saturday, December 4.
Riccardo Calafiori
Injury: Groin.
Riccardo Calafiori was also taken off early in the 5-2 victory against West Ham and has not been able to feature since. Like Gabriel, the Italy international was also not included in the matchday squad against Monaco.
What Arteta has said: "We have to manage a lot of the players. 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.
“We need a cage there because he [Calafiori] wants to go out, train and play. 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."
Possible return date: Everton (H) - Saturday, December 4.
Jurrien Timber
Injury: Unknown.
Jurrien Timber was missing from Arsenal's open training session on Tuesday ahead of the Champions League clash against Monaco after playing the full 90 minutes against Fulham this past weekend. Despite concerns over his fitness, he made the bench against Monaco and played the final 30 minutes.
What Arteta has said: "We have to manage a lot of the players. 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."
Possible return date: Returned.
Thomas Partey
Injury: Unknown.
Despite playing the entirety of the 1-1 draw with Fulham, like Timber, Thomas Partey was also a noticeable absentee from the training session held at London Colney on Tuesday afternoon. Even with fitness worries prominent, Partey was included in the starting XI to face Monaco and played the full game.
What Arteta has said: "We have to manage a lot of the players. 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."
Possible return date: Returned.
Ben White
Injury: Knee.
Ben White underwent surgery during the November international break to fix an ongoing knee issue.
What Arteta has said: "Ben is going to be out for months. We had to make a decision in the last few weeks, unfortunately. It got to a point where we had to protect the player, and we decided to do the surgery."
Possible return date: January/February.
Takehiro Tomiyasu
Injury: Knee.
Takehiro Tomiyasu has played just seven minutes of the 2024/25 campaign with a knee injury currently keeping him out of action.
What Arteta has said: "Tomiyasu is going to be out for a bit. He's going away for a few weeks to change his environment because it's been really tough for him. We're going to give him the best opportunity to try and unlock something, but I think we need to be patient."
Possible return date: Unknown.
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Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus with the Arsenal Therapy Dog Win during the Arsenal Men's team group shoot at London Colney on September 18, 2023
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