Kai Havertz
Kai Havertz
A forward who leaves a national camp on the Friday is the absence that changes a month. A strain is not the same sentence as a tear. Clubs still wait for their own scans.
International breaks were shortened, then stretched. Three weeks between a league game and the next one is how a hamstring gets a chance.
Optimism is not a team-sheet. It is the best available reading before the tests finish.
Kai Havertz is back at London Colney with a muscle strain and is not expected to be out long-term, the Standard reports. He was forced off in Germany’s Nations League draw with the Netherlands after a high challenge from Quinten Timber, Jurrien Timber’s brother.
The DFB called it a “muscle strain”. He left the camp on Friday for further tests with Arsenal’s medical staff. The listed potential return is Leeds at home on 10 October.
There is hope the injury to the German striker isn’t serious following the scans and he could potentially be available against Leeds United after the break.
The rest of the list is mixed, and mostly better. Martin Ødegaard took a knock from Bernardo Silva in Norway’s defeat to Portugal and said the challenge “doesn’t belong on a football field.” He told reporters: “I hope not, but I got a knock on my ankle there. So it probably won’t be good tonight.” He missed Tuesday’s training, travelled to Cardiff, and was named in the squad for Wales.
The captain will be ready to face Leeds.
Ezri Konsa played 90 minutes in the 3-2 loss to Spain, then trained alone before Prague. He made the bench in the 2-0 win over Czechia and has travelled to Croatia. Declan Rice dropped out of the England squad for rest rather than a fresh injury. Piero Hincapie was left out of Ecuador’s squad. Ben White, absent at Brighton after Arteta said “Ben is all good”, is expected back. Cristhian Mosquera is closing in on a return from the muscle injury that has kept him out since Villa on 31 August.
William Saliba remains the long one. Surgery was ruled out in July. A return after the November break is the working timeline. Christos Tzolis has since been forced off for Greece with a suspected hamstring or quad, a separate scare the Standard’s round-up had not yet logged.
Havertz is the forward the month was built around. Leeds is the date being floated. Until Arsenal’s tests agree with the DFB’s strain, it stays a target, not a selection.