Arsenal head into Christmas and the New Year knowing they will be without Bukayo Saka for a number of weeks.
The England international was forced off with a hamstring injury in the first half of Saturday's 5-1 win over Crystal Palace. "It’s not looking good. He’s going to be out for many weeks," Mikel Arteta told the media on Monday. "I cannot be too specific because I don’t know but it will be many weeks."
The Spaniard added: "He’s obviously a big player for us you just have to see the impact that he has on the team. It’s going to be a really good exercise for us to think of ways to overcome another challenge because we’ve had a lot over the season."
It means Saka will definitely miss the Gunners' Premier League clash with Ipswich on Friday. Another player who will be missing is Raheem Sterling. The 30-year-old picked up a knee injury in training last week and will also be out for a number of weeks.
"He’s going to be out for weeks I believe," Arteta admitted. "He needs further testing tomorrow to understand the extent of his injury. It’s his knee. We have to wait and see another 24 hours. Unfortunately he’s gonna be out for a while."
Oleksandr Zinchenko could finally make his return to the matchday squad on Friday, however. The Ukrainian has not featured since the 2-0 win over Manchester United at the start of December but Arteta revealed he will "probably [be] available" before the clash at Palace at the weekend. The former Man City man did not make the trip to south London but is expected to be there or thereabouts for the clash against Ipswich.
Elsewhere, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Ben White remain Arsenal's long-term absentees and are not expected to make their returns until 2025. That means, when looking at the official Arsenal website, the Gunners have 18 senior players available for selection for the game vs Ipswich. As per Premier League rules, a club is allowed to name a squad of 20 players for a Premier League match.
Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly, who are classed as Arsenal Academy members on the Gunners official website, have been included in most matchday squads this season and that is expected to continue on Friday.
Possible Arsenal squad for Ipswich: Raya, Neto; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Kiwior, Calafiori, Lewis-Skelly, Zinchenko, Tierney; Rice, Jorginho, Partey, Merino, Nwaneri, Odegaard; Trossard, Jesus, Havertz, Martinelli.
Senior players unavailable for Ipswich: White (knee injury), Tomiyasu (knee injury), Sterling (knee injury), Saka (hamstring injury)