Mikel Arteta will be without four Arsenal stars for the visit of Lille in the Champions League after an unfortunate double injury blow this past weekend
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has been dealt injury concerns before their first Champions League clash at Emirates Stadium
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has been dealt injury concerns before their first Champions League clash at Emirates Stadium(Image: (Photo by David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images))
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Martin Zubimendi and Pierro Hincapie will miss Arsenal's Champions League clash against Lille. The Gunners duo picked up ankle problems in the warm-down following Saturday's win over Leeds United with Lille defender Tiago Santos also picking up an issue over the weekend.
He was stretchered off just 22 minutes into his side's Ligue 1 win over Le Havre, with Lille having now confirmed he "suffered a serious injury that will require a lengthy rehabilitation". Exactly how long Zubimendi and Hincapie will be absent is unclear, with Arteta revealing further tests have been scheduled.
He said: "No, they're both going to miss tomorrow's match, that's for sure. Today they're going to have a further scan and probably tomorrow we'll know more, and then we'll see how they're going to go. Piero's one looks a little bit more serious, I think, but we'll have to wait and see."
Concern over the latter is perhaps no surprise, seeing as he was captured by cameras in some distress as he was carried off the pitch.
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Several Arsenal defenders have missed periods of time through injury over the last few months, including Cristhian Mosquera and Ben White, but both have since returned while William Saliba is still unavailable.
A long-term back complaint, which worsened during the World Cup, has kept him out of action so far this season, but Arteta has hinted he is getting closer to returning.
"Now it's over a week [he has been back on the pitch], I think, and he'll be managing that load, and how many repetitions and sessions in a row he can do.
William Saliba of Arsenal
William Saliba has returned to parts of Arsenal training
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"But he's building now his capacity to good standards, and let's see in the next few weeks we can start to introduce him with the team, and to see where we are to actually make his available."
While it is unclear when Saliba may be back in Arsenal's matchday squad, Christos Tzolis is expected to return in either late October or early November. "Tzolis has a muscle injury, and he's going to be out, I think, for a few weeks. He's not available yet," the Arsenal boss admitted.
Arteta is expected to be without for players in north London on Tuesday evening while Lille boss Davide Ancelotti has three injury concerns.
Santos is one of those while Hamza Igamane is in the later stages of recovering from a serious knee injury that he suffered back in January.
Ethan Mbappe picked up an ankle injury on international duty with France's Under-21s and subsequently missed their win on Saturday. Regardless of if he is deemed fit to feature, a red card picked up in their last European clash means he will be suspended.
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