Gabriel Magalhaes could return against Aston Villa.placeholder image
Gabriel Magalhaes could return against Aston Villa. | Arsenal FC via Getty Images
Mikel Arteta hopes to have a key defender back fit when Arsenal take on Aston Villa later this month.
Arsenal could welcome back defensive titan Gabriel Magalhães in time to face sudden title race rivals Aston Villa before the end of 2025 in a significant boost for the Gunners.
Mikel Arteta’s side are surviving without the Brazil international but it has not been easy for the London outfit. Arsenal left it late to pick up three points against Wolves on Saturday night to extend their stay at the top of the table.
The Gunners also beat Club Brugge last week but that came after a painful 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa in the Premier League. Arteta has had to field a makeshift back four in recent weeks with William Saliba also sidelined before his return against Wolves.
Gabriel Magalhães injury update
Arteta turned to the young pairing of Cristhian Mosquera and Piero Hincapie at first but the former then picked up his own injury problem. That left full-back Jurrien Timber having to be deployed in a more conventional role.
Arsenal have a series of huge fixtures coming up before the end of the calendar year with a Carabao Cup quarter final against Crystal Palace on December 23 perhaps the most head-turning. There’s also a league meeting with Aston Villa on December 30 at the Emirates Stadium.
Given the form of Unai Emery’s side, that clash could be huge in determining the outcome of the Premier League this season. The Villains have won their last six league matches and now sit third in the table, just two points behind Arsenal.
It’s a must-win fixture for Arteta and, reporting from the training ground on Tuesday, Sky Sports provided a promising injury update on Gabriel. The centre-back was not involved in training but reporter Gary Cotterill claimed that he could be targeting a return for that big match against Aston Villa.
Arsenal star aiming for comeback against Aston Villa
He said: “Not out there still is Gabriel. There are reports doing the rounds that he might well be targeting a return for two weeks today, that’s the crucial Aston Villa game at the Emirates.
“Also not out there is Ben White. Another injury problem. He came back from a while out with a hamstring problem having had a knee problem devastate his season last season. He’s picked up another hamstring problem in that game at the weekend against Wolves and so is out for another bit of treatment. He had a scan on Sunday, we think, and they are waiting for a final conclusion but the guesstimate is another month out.
“The better news is that William Saliba, missing for a while, is out there. He did play, of course, against Wolves and we are seeing him training for the first time as we didn’t see training before the Wolves game.”
In other news, Arsenal star Martin Zubimendi absent in first training session after Wolves victory.
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