While Havertz’s return is imminent, Arsenal’s defensive issues continue to test Arteta’s resourcefulness. The manager revealed that Piero Hincapie picked up an unspecified injury during last weekend’s win over Everton, compounding problems at the back. With injuries mounting, Riccardo Calafiori is expected to partner William Saliba in central defence once again. It will mark the eighth different centre-back pairing Arsenal have deployed this season, a statistic that highlights the ongoing disruption. There is, however, hope on the horizon. Gabriel Magalhaes could return early in the new year, though Arteta cautioned that patience is still required.
"We have to wait and see," he said. "He hasn't trained yet, so he’s still doing his rehab. But hopefully as quickly as possible [he can be back], because we know the situation now we have in the backline."
Arteta also heaped praise on Calafiori and claimed that the Italian can forge a successful partnership with Saliba at the back.
"Well, he’s done that (played at centre-back)," he said. "What he didn’t do before is play as a full-back. So we bought him as well, because we believed that he could do both of them. Those stats are really important, especially if they’re still aggressive to win the ball. I don’t want players just going backwards as they don’t want to be dribbled [past]. So those two (Calafiori and Gabriel) have a great mindset."