The latest Arsenal injury news ahead of their fixture against Nottingham Forest - with updates on Ben White, William Saliba, Bukayo Saka and more.
Bukayo Saka, William Saliba and Kai Havertz are among the players facing lengthy lay-offs due to recent fitness issues, while there is doubt over the availability of defender Ben White and summer signing Christian Nørgaard heading to the weekend.
With Arsenal needing a win to bounce back from a disappointing defeat to Liverpool before the international break, we’ve rounded up all of the latest injury news and expected return dates for the Gunners below.
Will Ben White play for Arsenal against Nottingham Forest?
Right-back White has yet to play a competitive match for Arsenal this season due to a muscular injury, but it looks increasingly likely that he will be available to play at least some role against Forest on Saturday.
Arteta had already told the media ahead of the 1-0 loss to Liverpool that White was being kept out of the squad as a precaution while he returned to training, and now The Evening Standard has reported that White “is hoping” to be back in the side come the weekend.
Details of the injury have been hard to come by with Arsenal keeping their cards typically close to their chest, but it appears that White is very close to making his comeback.
Midfielder Nørgaard’s situation is more doubtful – Arteta had hoped to have him back immediately after the international break but there have been no updates confirming whether he is fit to make his debut for his new club. As with White, the Gunners have not confirmed the nature of the injury that has kept the Dane on the sidelines.
How long are William Saliba and Bukayo Saka out for?
Defender Saliba was taken off just a few minutes into the recent match at Anfield, with Arteta later revealing that the Frenchman had twisted his ankle in the warm-up before insisting that he was able to play – an assertion which proved false and required Saliba to be replaced by Cristhian Mosquera.
Saliba subsequently withdrew from France’s national squad for their matches against Ukraine and Iceland, with reports since suggesting that the sprain he sustained could keep him out for up to four weeks. It is unlikely that Saliba will feature against Forest, with the away game at Newcastle United on 28 September a more realistic target.
Saka, meanwhile, is also expected to be out for at least another week thanks to a hamstring injury picked up prior to the Liverpool game. Arteta has yet to offer a likely return date but there is at least some chance that he features against Manchester City on 21 September based on the most optimistic timelines reported since news of his injury first broke.
Kai Havertz, meanwhile, was forced to undergo surgery on a knee injury. Arteta has only told reporters that the German would miss “a number of weeks but I don’t know how many months” – a typically unhelpful answer – but it is clear that Havertz won’t be available for some time. Long-term injury victim Gabriel Jesus (ACL) is supposedly making “very strong strides” in his rehabilitation but won’t play again until late autumn or early winter.
There is at least good news on captain Martin Ødegaard, who was only able to play for 20 minutes against Liverpool due to a knock picked up the week prior against Leeds United – he came through the international break unscathed and was able to play the full 90 minutes in Norway’s remarkable 11-1 thrashing of Moldova, scoring once and collecting two assists.
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