Leeds United’s weekend Premier League hosts have a few new injury issues to contend with.
Arsenal are reportedly ‘sweating’ over the fitness of a key defender ahead of Saturday’s Premier League meeting with Leeds United.
The Gunners welcomed £55million summer signing Ezri Konsa back from England duty earlier than planned due to injury. The centre-back is believed to have been struggling with a dead leg in recent weeks and withdrew from Thomas Tuchel’s squad ahead of Tuesday’s meeting with Czechia.
Sign up to our Leeds United newsletter
Standard Sport now reports that Arsenal have been ‘left sweating’ over Konsa’s fitness heading into the weekend. The report claims that while the defender’s injury isn’t believed to be serious, it is ‘as yet unclear’ whether he’ll be available to face Leeds on Saturday.
Ezri Konsa is a doubt for Arsenal when they face Leeds United on Saturday.placeholder image
Ezri Konsa is a doubt for Arsenal when they face Leeds United on Saturday. | Getty Images
Three Lions boss Tuchel confirmed in a press conference on Monday that Konsa had been managing the issue throughout the international break. But after suffering another knock during last weekend’s 7-0 thrashing of Croatia he would not be fit for the final game.
“Ezri felt discomfort when he came into camp, played with it against Spain and it got a bit worse,” Tuchel said. “He stayed in camp and tried everything for the match against Czechia and it came too soon.
For the latest Whites news, sign up for the YEP’s free Leeds newsletter
“He tried everything for the game in Croatia, got the green light and came through all the training sessions so was ready to play. Unfortunately, he got another hit on the quad and that caused a light trauma.
“We decided not to let him play through this pain, so he left camp to get treatment for both his issues now. I think nothing major but not worth taking the risk.”
Arsenal have fallen victim to a number of potential fitness issues during the break, most notably summer signing Christos Tzolis who suffered a hamstring injury while away with Greece. The winger is set to miss around three weeks and will certainly sit out Saturday’s meeting with Leeds.
Striker Kai Havertz is also a doubt due to a hamstring injury. Like Konsa, he was sent home from international duty with Germany early after picking up the issue during the first game of the international break.
Declan Rice withdrew from England duty but is not believed to have an injury, while Martin Odegaard picked up an ankle knock but started Norway’s last game on Sunday before being given time off. Defensive trio Ben White, Piero Hincapie and Yerson Mosquera have all been spotted back in training recently.