Mikel Arteta has been handed two fresh Arsenal fitness worries and a potentially major blow following the 3-1 victory over Brentford. Three points for the Gunners took them back above Nottingham Forest and into second with the gap to leaders Liverpool also closed.
Goals from Gabriel Jesus, Mikel Merino and Gabriel Martinelli gave Arsenal the victory after Bryan Mbuemo opened the scoring inside 13 minutes. Declan Rice and Myles Lewis-Skelly were among those that dropped down to the bench while Kai Havertz was left out of the squad entirely.
Jurrien Timber is also now guaranteed to miss a game for the Gunners which could force Arteta into a tactical switch.
Declan Rice
Rice featured off the bench against Brentford, but ahead of the game, Arteta revealed he suffered a fresh issue during the Christmas period.
Injury: Unknown.
What Arteta has said: “Declan as well he had to come off the other day, it’s the second time he had a niggle.
Possible return date: Returned.
Jurrien Timber
Injury: N/A.
Though he has been hit by injury on a number of occasions, Jurrien Timber will actually miss the next Premier League game against Brighton through suspension. He will however, be able to play in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Newcastle.
Possible return date: Newcastle (H) – Tuesday, January 7.
Kai Havertz
Havertz was a noticeable absentee from the Arsenal matchday squad to face Brentford with it later confirmed he missed out due to illness and judging by Arteta’s words, he may not have been ready to play.
What Arteta has said: “Yes, I hope so. It’s nothing serious but they weren’t in the ideal condition to play today. With Kai, it was obvious he wasn’t feeling well at all and he had really clear symptoms so stay away from it, put him in a car and go back to London.
Possible return date: Brighton (A) – Saturday, January 4.
Bukayo Saka
Injury: Hamstring.
Saka is expected to miss the next few months with a hamstring issue picked up against Crystal Palace before Christmas which required surgery to fix.
What Arteta has said: “He had a procedure. Everything went well. But unfortunately, he will be out for many, many weeks. I think it will be more than two months. I don’t know exactly how much longer.”
Possible return date: March 2025.
Ben White
Injury: Knee.
Having undergone a procedure in November, White has been confirmed as unavailable for the next few months.
