Mikel Arteta will be forced to deal with several injury concerns as Arsenal prepare for their upcoming run of fixtures.
The Gunners will face Ipswich Town on Friday night at the Emirates Stadium in their first match after Christmas as they look to close the gap on leaders Liverpool.
Arsenal are third in the Premier League table and six points behind the Merseyside club, who have a game in hand. The Gunners are also two points adrift of second-placed Chelsea, and will have to go into their next run of fixtures with some key players on the sidelines.
Bukayo Saka faces a spell in the treatment room after suffering a hamstring injury in the win over Crystal Palace on Saturday night. Arteta confirmed that Saka had torn a hamstring, with the forward spotted leaving Selhurst Park wearing crutches.
"It's not looking good, he's [Saka] going to be out for many weeks," said Arteta in his pre-match press conference on Monday.
Saka is not the only player facing a spell on the sidelines, with Raheem Sterling suffering a knee injury during training last week. Arteta confirmed that the on-loan Chelsea star will be unavailable for the foreseeable future.
"He’s [Sterling] gonna be out for weeks," said Arteta. "He needs further testing tomorrow to understand the extent of his injury. It’s his knee."
Saka and Sterling are now added to a growing injury list that also includes Ben White , who remains sidelined after undergoing a minor procedure to correct joint problems back in November. White is not expected to return until sometime in the New Year, with no exact timeframe given for when the defender will be available once again.
Takehiro Tomiyasu also remains unavailable for Arsenal as the defender continues to recover from a knee injury. Oleksandr Zinchenko is closing in on a return from a fitness issue, though, despite not being part of the matchday squad for the trip to Palace at the weekend.
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It is going to be an interesting summer at the Emirates Stadium as Arsenal look to make changes and give Mikel Arteta the squad to overhaul Manchester City and win the Premier League title.
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