As many as five Arsenal players could miss out on Sunday when the North Londoners host West Ham United. The good news is that most of the injury issues that they’re dealing with are thought to not be too serious. Let’s start with winger Bukayo Saka, who is instrumental to the team.
Saka left the win over Liverpool early, after having collided with Darwin Nunez.
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He should be fine,” Manager Mikel Arteta said after the win.
“He got a kick on the ankle or the back of his foot, he should be fine.”
As for Partey, he suffered another setback, having recovered from a thigh injury that has limited him to just 15 minutes played since August. However, Arteta maintains that this latest issue is relatively minor and that it won’t keep him on the sidelines for too long.
“We’ll see if it’s a matter of days of weeks,” Arteta said.
“But he had a little thing. I’m not a doctor, but he felt something in a very similar area and he wasn’t able to train the last few days.”
Moving on, Gabriel Jesus could miss out here, having possibly returned too soon from knee problems.
“With Gabi we expect it to be something that is days,” said Arteta.
“Unfortunately, he had a setback in training and he wasn’t fit to play. It’s something related to his knee, but I think it’s a short-term thing…The return (vs the Tricky Trees) might’ve been a bit too fast for him.”
And then you have Ukrainian left back Oleksandr Zinchenko, who is a doubt for this match, due to a calf problem.
“With Alex we don’t know. He had some feeling in his calf again and we had to take him off.”
The news is better with Takehiro Tomiyasu, who could be available here after returning to the side. He came back to the club once Japanese national side were eliminated from the Asian Cup.
Finally, Fabio Vieira and Jurrien Timber remain out as long-term injury absentees, but the latter looks poised to play again before the season ends. And that is fantastic news for him.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now, while writing for the International Baseball Writers Association of America. You can follow the website on Twitter.