Sunderland starter now a doubt to face Arsenal | OneFootball

Sunderland may be without starting defender Omar Alderete for the third consecutive game this weekend, with the player a doubt to face Arsenal.

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Sunderland take on Arsenal in a Premier League fixture this weekend, and the hosts are set to be without a few players due to long-term injuries.

Habib Diarra, Leo Hjelde, Romaine Mundle, Dennis Cirkin, and Aji Alese have all been out for well over a month already, and none of them are expected to return to action until after the November internationals at the earliest. As a result, they should all miss the Arsenal match.

But that’s nothing new, and Sunderland have been on an excellent run of Premier League results even without that group of players. Perhaps a more influential absence is the potential loss of Omar Alderete.

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Alderete had featured in every Premier League game Sunderland had played until October 18th, when he suffered a concussion.

The centre-back missed the following two games against Chelsea and Everton, and Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris has suggested he could miss Arsenal too.

“We don’t know yet [whether he’ll be fit to face Arsenal], he had a residual symptom, so we have to assess his health,” Le Bris said this week.

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Alderete is currently believed to be Sunderland’s only new injury doubt, with no other reported concerns from their 1-1 draw against Everton on Monday.

That of course means Granit Xhaka is set to be fit and likely to start against his old side, and he’s admitted he’s preparing for an “emotional game”.