Arsenal injury update: Jurrien Timber, William Saliba, Cristhian Mosquera latest news and return dates | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta could get major boost as Gunners head to Sunderland next

Arsenal are dealing with some familiar injury issues ahead of their Premier League trip to Sunderland this weekend.

The reigning champions head to the Stadium of Light on Saturday night looking to preserve their impressive 100 per cent start to the season across all competitions.

Mikel Arteta’s side have won all five of their matches so far this term including the Community Shield demolition of title rivals Manchester City, edging past both Aston Villa and Chelsea in the Premier League after brushing aside newly-promoted Coventry on opening night.

Arsenal carried that strong form into the Champions League on Wednesday evening, beating Napoli 1-0 in Italy courtesy of a special winning goal from in-form captain Martin Odegaard that headlined a dominant if somewhat profligate display.

Now attentions quickly turn back to their title defence, with a visit to Wearside to face a Sunderland team unbeaten in their last three outings presenting a potentially tricky test.

Jurrien Timber

First-choice right-back Jurrien Timber has played only once for Arsenal since suffering a groin injury in the win over Everton in March, returning briefly for an impressive cameo off the bench in the Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain in May.

That comeback proved frustratingly short-lived, with the versatile defender missing the World Cup with the Netherlands following a setback and yet to feature at all at club level so far this season.

However, Timber has been back training now for a number of weeks and travelled with the Arsenal squad to Naples on Tuesday, though was not involved.

It remains to be seen if he will be considered to face Sunderland, but Arteta insisted before last weekend’s win over Chelsea that the 25-year-old was “in a really good place”.

Sidelined: Arsenal defenders Jurrien Timber, William Saliba and Cristhian Mosquera

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The manager said: “Jurrien is in really good condition at the moment, he’s been a few weeks on the pitch and has been training with us, so he’s in a really good place.

“We will decide [on his involvement on Sunday] after training [on Saturday].”

Arteta may decide that next week’s Carabao Cup third-round trip to Ipswich is a more appropriate game for Timber’s return, with a visit to Brighton then coming up before the extended three-week international break.

Potential return date: Saturday September 12, vs Sunderland (A) or Tuesday September 15, vs Ipswich (A)

William Saliba

William Saliba is also yet to play for Arsenal this season, having exacerbated a lingering back injury during France’s run to the World Cup semi-finals in North America earlier this summer.

Though the influential centre-back avoided surgery, he is expected to be sidelined for an “extended period”, according to Arsenal.

“We don’t really know the amount of weeks Wilo [Saliba] is going to be out because it’s about a healing process and everything is a bit different - we know we have to respect certain timings,” Arteta recently said of Saliba, after naming him in his squad for the league phase of the Champions League.

“The progression has been really positive in the last few weeks, but we need to wait and see how that one reacts when we start to put some load into it.”

Potential return date: Unknown, possibly November or December

Cristhian Mosquera

Completing Arsenal’s triumvirate of defensive injuries is Cristhian Mosquera, who began the season filling in for Saliba alongside Gabriel before a muscular injury suffered against Aston Villa ruled him out of the meetings with Chelsea and Napoli as new signing Ezri Konsa excelled in his absence.

However, Arteta has insisted that the issue is not serious and he is likely to be assessed again ahead of the weekend.