An injury expert has delivered their verdict on how long Viktor Gyokeres could be sidelined after Mikel Arteta was forced to withdraw his star striker at half-time during Arsenal's 2-0 win over Burnley on Saturday afternoon. The Gunners currently sit top of the Premier League, seven points clear of Bournemouth and Liverpool, but continue to battle a growing list of injuries this term.
Bukayo Saka, William Saliba, and Kai Havertz have all spent unwanted time on the sidelines, while captain Martin Odegaard has faced more than one injury scare of his own. Thankfully, Arsenal’s strength in depth has often bailed them out of tricky situations this season - but an injury to their first-choice striker could prove the biggest concern yet.
In the 2025/26 campaign, Arsenal’s title hopes were largely derailed by an injury crisis that even saw Mikel Merino deployed as a makeshift centre-forward. Depending on the severity of Gyokeres’ issue, Arteta could once again be forced to fit square pegs into round holes, especially with Gabriel Jesus also currently sidelined as another alternative strike option.
Injury Expert Delivers Victor Gyokeres Assessment
Gyokeres
While the 27-year-old Sweden international hasn’t burst out of the blocks quite as quickly as many expected - following a season in which he scored 54 goals in 52 appearances and earned a high-profile £63.5 million move to Arsenal over the summer - it was Gyokeres who opened the scoring at Turf Moor, netting his fourth Premier League goal of the season.
At the break, however, he was substituted after “feeling something muscular.” That immediately raised concerns he might have suffered a hamstring injury or something of similar seriousness. But Physio Scout, an injury expert on X, has since played down fears of anything major, writing (see full post below):
"Arteta says he’ll be assessed. By the sounds of things, it looks more like tightness or a Grade 1 strain rather than a big injury.
"Tightness/fatigue: Less than 1 week
"Grade 1 strain: 2 - 4 weeks."
Martin Zubimendi was also substituted early, but with concerns similar to those surrounding Gyokeres, Physio Scout doubled down on their assessment that Arsenal should have no real reason for alarm over the duo. “With no clear in-game mechanism, it profiles more as muscle fatigue/overload from the recent run of games,” they wrote about the midfielder.
“Likely day-to-day unless scans show more. Double knock on an otherwise dominant Arsenal display. Doesn’t sound like anything too major to worry about though.”