Arsenal have been handed yet another injury blow, with Cristhian Mosquera withdrawn during the first half of their clash with Brentford at the Emirates Stadium. The defender jumped to challenge for a long ball directed towards him, landing awkwardly when falling back to his feet.
Mosquera was replaced by Jurrien Timber, who had been rested in the clash, with Ben White featuring at right-back. It comes at a time when Mikel Arteta has been heavily impacted with fitness concerns across his team.
The Gunners went into the clash without their first-choice centre-back pairing of Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba, due to their respective injury issues. Gabriel picked up a thigh problem in Brazil's friendly against Senegal, which was later confirmed to be an issue which would keep him out for around one to two months.
As for Saliba, he picked up a knock in training that Arteta brandished as "bizarre", but claimed that it would keep him out for a few days. It means he could return to action soon, but his absence meant that the Arsenal boss had to rely on Mosquera and Piero Hincapie from the start against Brentford.
However, the former went down just before half time clutching his ankle, landing awkwardly after competing for a header. He limped off, with Timber's arrival meaning that Arsenal were down to bare bones in terms of their centre-back options - though he the Dutchman does play there for the national team.
It comes at a time where the Gunners will be truly tested in their ability to compete for the Premier League title. The games come thick and fast over the festive fixture period, as shown by the recent return from the international break.
Arsenal are off the back of games against Tottenham, Bayern Munich, and Chelsea, where they picked up two wins and one draw. In the latter of those, some of the effort put in clearly showed as the team looked fatigued in their attempt to find a winner over their London rivals.
As a result, Arteta named a changed team, resting some key stars and bringing in a return for Martin Odegaard, Noni Madueke, and Ben White. While there was some hope that Timber could be rested ahead of a run that includes Aston Villa and Club Brugge over the next week, his inclusion from the bench will come as something of a double frustration.
The main concern will be for Mosquera, as it remains to be seen the exact extent of his injury concern. It puts a slight dampener on what has been an other wise positive start to life at Arsenal for the defender.
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