SETTABLOID

Arsenal defender Ben White is now set to be out of action for at least three months after undergoing knee surgery.

The Gunners star finally had an operation on an issue that had lingered for a while and seen him play through the pain barrier for many months.

Arsenal medics believe White returning within three months will be a bonus, and manager Mikel Arteta will hope to have him back sooner rather than later given his versatility.

Fortunately, the North London club have options who can cover in his long-term absence, with the likes of Jurrien Timber, Riccardo Calafiori, Jakub Kiwior, Thomas Partey, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Oleksandr Zinchenko all available options at full-back.

Kieran Tierney is also back in contention after returning to the bench for the first time against Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday since he got injured during the European Championship in the summer.

William Saliba is hoping that Arsenal can keep Martin Odegaard fit for the remainder of the season after his instant impact on Arsenal’s form.

The Norwegian missed two months between September and November due to an ankle injury. During this time Arsenal won just five out of 10 matches in the Premier League and Champions League.

Since Odegaard’s return to the starting line up earlier this month though, the Gunners have flipped that form on it’s head, winning two out of three matches and scoring nine in the process. Odegaard himself has shown no signs of rustiness after such a long layoff, grabbing an assist in each of his three starts since his comeback.

His impact has just about kept Arsenal clinging on by their finger nails in this season’s title race. The Gunners are still nine points behind Liverpool, and for Saliba, they cannot afford to lose Odegaard for any longer if they are to close that gap.

“It is a bit different [when he is here] as he is one of the best players in the world,” the French defender said after Tuesday’s 5-1 win over Sporting CP. “We are so happy to have him back. We are better with him, I hope he doesn’t get injured again. We have to enjoy playing with him. You can see we are better with him.

“He is a top professional, so he worked hard at the training ground. I’m not surprised that he came back like this but it is not easy when you haven’t played for four weeks to come back at this level. He is a top professional.

FPL managers could be looking to bring in a replacement for Gabriel Magalhaes after the Arsenal defender was taken off with a minor injury in the Champions League clash against Sporting CP. The Brazil international put in an excellent display in Portugal while also scoring his third goal of the season.

In the late stages of the European clash, Gabriel was captured by the TNT Sports cameras signalling to the bench and was thus swiftly replaced by Jakub Kiwior in the 84th minute. After the game, Mikel Arteta for his reasoning behind the Gabriel substitution.

Based on the update from Arteta, Gabriel’s availability for this Saturday evening’s Premier League clash against West Ham United at London Stadium is in doubt. He is now yellow-flagged on the FPL website and app which will concern his new 136,000 or so owners.

After keeping a third clean sheet of the season last weekend against Nottingham Forest, Gabriel is now the second-highest defender for points with 51, six behind Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk. Gabriel is owned by 24.5 per cent of Fantasy Premier League managers.

Arsenal have had their fair share of injury concerns this season. Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Ben White and Riccardo Calafiori are among those to have missed games in the opening few months of the campaign.

One player who has been ever-present is Thomas Partey. The midfielder has been available for every single game, with Mikel Arteta including the Ghana international in every squad he has named this season.

In fact, Partey has featured in 18 of Arsenal’s 19 games played so far. His only rest came in the Carabao Cup win over Bolton Wanderers in September, where he did not come off the bench.

The 31-year-old joined Arsenal in a £45million deal from Atletico Madrid in October 2020 and has played more than 130 games for the north Londoners, scoring seven goals in that time. His latest outing came in the Champions League against Sporting, where he dominated the midfield along with Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice.

Even on Arsenal’s best day of the season there was a sting in the tail for Mikel Arteta. His side were well on their way to a tremendous and near-blemishless night in Lisbon before fears once again arose.

Taken off with just five minutes of normal time left, Gabriel Magalhaes’ late injury threatens to leave a dark mark on what had been a scintilating night. Entering Tuesday’s Champions League clash away at Sporting with it all to play for in the group phase, Arsenal ran out dominant 5-1 victors.

The Portuguese champions – now without Ruben Amorim at the helm – had beaten Manchester City 4-1 last time out. Arsenal did what their Premier League rivals couldn’t, though, and put the game out of reach when they were on top, entering the break 3-0 up rather than with it all to play for as Pep Guardiola had seen.

Sporting’s brief threat of getting back into the match lasted less a little over ten minutes as Bukayo Saka’s inch-perfect penalty added to first half goals from Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz, and the aforementioned Gabriel. His powerful header put the game to bed.

Mikel Arteta knows the feeling. He has been there at Arsenal when the shoe is on the other foot. He has faced up to the press looking more bedraggled than usual after a game – although not with cuts on his face from the self-torture of watching on, it must be said.

That is what Manchester City have done to clubs, managers, and players over the past five or so years and the numerous close title challenges. They elicit such astronomically high standards that defeats in August are pondered over. Arsenal dropped points to Brighton (a strong and impressive Premier League team) and had their credentials questioned, despite it being the first time they had failed to win.

Arsenal had been four league games without victory before they welcomed Nottingham Forest – third in the league earlier this month to the Emirates Stadium. Coming back from the international break and starting without Kai Havertz or Declan Rice, the demons of that run disappeared with a flash on Saturday.

William Saliba has hailed Martin Ødegaard after the Arsenal captain returned from injury, with the Frenchman labelling him as “one of the best players in the world.”

Ødegaard made his long-awaited return from an ankle injury as a late substitute in the UEFA Champions League against Inter, and has since made three consecutive starts for the Gunners, and his performances have not failed to live up to the lofty expectations placed on him.

Most recently, during Arsenal’s emphatic 5-1 win over Sporting CP in the Champions League, Ødegaard put in an exemplary performance – demonstrating creativity of the highest level, despite not lodging an official assist.

Arsenal claimed their third victory in the Champions League, defeating Sporting Clube de Portugal 5-1 in Lisbon on Tuesday night.

It was the perfect night for Mikel Arteta and Co., who only needed seven minutes to break the deadlock. Gabriel Martinelli’s opener was followed by Kai Havertz’s goal before Gabriel Magalhaes got on the scoresheet on the brink of half-time.

Bukayo Saka added to the scoreline from the penalty spot, and Leandro Trossard scored the Gunners’ fifth late on. Sporting’s Goncalo Inacio netted the consolation goal for the hosts as Viktor Gyokeres had an unusually quiet night.

Manchester City suffered yet another desperately difficult evening on Tuesday as they threw away a three-goal lead to draw with Feyenoord in the Champions League.

City had been cruising against their Dutch opponents thanks to Erling Haaland’s brace and Ilkay Gundogan’s deflected strike. However, a combination of mistakes and hard work from Feyenoord saw Pep Guardiola’s side concede three goals from the 74th minute onwards to draw the game.

The result leaves City’s confidence at an all-time low while Arsenal are in buoyant mood thanks to a 5-1 hammering of Sporting in Lisbon. After the weekend’s results, the Gunners sit just a point behind the current champions and nine behind leaders Liverpool.

However, a look at both Arsenal and City’s fixtures could show opportunities for the Gunners to leapfrog the Manchester club and begin to push towards Liverpool.

Arsenal’s next five fixtures

November 30 vs West Ham (A) at 5.30pm – Premier League

December 4 vs Manchester United (H) at 8.15pm – Premier League

December 8 vs Fulham (A) at 2pm – Premier League

December 11 vs AS Monaco (H) at 8pm – Champions League

December 14 vs Everton (H) at 3pm – Premier League