Mikel Arteta has a few injury worries over the international break ahead of the North London Derby next weekend. Gabriel Jesus, Mikel Merino and Takehiro Tomiyasu are all currently sidelined for Arsenal, while Declan Rice is also missing through suspension.
Declan Rice will only miss the one game after receiving two yellow cards against Brighton last time out, meaning he’ll return to face Manchester City at the Etihad.
However it’s not so good news for new signing Mikel Merino with the midfielder expected to be out for around two months with a shoulder injury.
Mikel Arteta speaking on Mikel Merino: “He had a collision and he has a shoulder injury unfortunately. It looks like he’s going to be out for a few weeks.
“First session. He was really excited and everything was looking really good. He landed on the floor and Gabi [Magalhaes] landed on top of him and it looks like he has a small fracture probably.”
Having two central midfielders unavailable for the North London Derby presents Mikel Arteta with a big selection headache ahead of the game.
Takehiro Tomiyasu is yet to return to first-team training and isn’t expected to be back on the pitch anytime soon.
However it’s more positive news on Gabriel Jesus with the striker expected to return to full first-team training over the next week, ahead of the game against Tottenham next Sunday.
Gabriel Jesus provides Mikel Arteta with a huge boost, as it could allow Kai Havertz to start in midfield considering the current lack of options in the position.
