Evening Standard
·31 ottobre 2024
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Yahoo sportsEvening Standard
·31 ottobre 2024
Gunners facing run of difficult away fixtures before international break
Mikel Arteta’s side can put pressure on title rivals Manchester City and Liverpool with three points at Newcastle in the first game of the weekend, having drawn 2-2 with the Reds last time out.
The Gunners then marched into the Carabao Cup quarter-finals with a 3-0 win over Preston on Wednesday night, teeing up a quarter-final clash with Crystal Palace at home in December.
After the trip to St James’ Park, Arsenal head to Inter Milan in the Champions League before making the short journey to Chelsea in a mouth-watering fixture before the international break.
With three tough away games to come, Arteta will need as many key players available as possible.
Here’s a look at the latest Arsenal injuries…
Key defender Gabriel sparked fears about a potential injury when coming off against Liverpool but Arteta played down any serious concerns when speaking before the Preston game. The Brazilian missed that win but may have been rested anyway.
“We are still assessing him,” he said.
“It doesn't look bad at all. It was much better the next day. Hopefully he’ll be fine. He has done some tests.”
Potential return date: Unknown
Fellow defender Ben White lasted the full game against Liverpool but Arteta revealed before the win at Deepdale that injury prevented him from playing.
“He was struggling at the end of the match so he wasn’t available for tonight’s game,” said Arteta.
Potential return date: Unknown
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard has not played since September due to an ankle injury but Arteta is hopeful the Norway star could feature before this month’s international break.
Martin Odegaard could be closing in on a return from injury
REUTERS
“He’s been on the grass for a few weeks, but there is still a few boxes to tick,” said Arteta before the Preston game.
“How fast we can do that last stage of the rehab is a question we’ll have to answer once we have players around him and he starts competing with the team. He hasn’t done that yet.
“Hopefully yes [Odegaard will be back before the November international break], but we’ll have to see how that stage goes.”
Potential return date: November/December 2024
Riccardo Calafiori missed the Liverpool game after he was forced off during the win over Shakhtar Donetsk and Arteta has revealed the Italian is facing “a few weeks” out of action.
Potential return date: Unknown
It remains to be seen how much of a role Kieran Tierney plays this season but Arteta hinted the Scotland international could return to team training reasonably soon.
“I think he's quite close,” said the Gunners boss before the Preston game.
“He's looking really good. I think he's over the period where he was still struggling, so he looks really sharp out there. He hasn't trained with the team yet, but hopefully, he can do that in the next week or two.'
Potential return date: Unknown
Takehiro Tomiyasu has played only six minutes this season after suffering a setback in his recovery from a knee injury.
His return date remains unclear.
Potential return date: Unknown