The team fitness report for the next Arsenal match, Oct. 21 against Chelsea, will be very news-worthy to say the least. Leandro Trossard, having suffered a hamstring tweak in the win over Manchester City yesterday, has pulled out of Belgium duty this international period.
He joins William Saliba (France) and Bukayo Saka (England) as Arsenal first team players who are staying back with the club this international break, and not participating in Euro 2024 qualifiers.
? Leandro Trossard has withdrawn from Belgium squad due to hamstring injury.
??? He’s out for Euro 2024 qualifiers against Austria and Sweden. pic.twitter.com/1jkBcPGWa6
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 9, 2023
There is a lot of optimism, within the Arsenal camp that Trossard’s withdrawal is much precautionary than anything. It is thought that his injury isn’t serious, and that he should be fit enough to be in contention for the London derby in 12 days time. Ditto for Saliba.
The central defender and French international did go the full 90 against City and his toe injury was not suffered this past weekend, but a flare-up of what has been a chronic problem for him.
As for Saka, it is really hard to say what his situation is like at this point. Manager Mikel Arteta was coy about his status all week, and the intentional obfuscation was all about gamesmanship ahead of the City clash.
Maybe that will continue after the international break, we’ll see.
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.”
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