Viktor Gyokeres will miss Tuesday’s Champions League game against Slavia Prague, according to Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, who is the latest Gunners forward to have been sidelined by injury.
After being substituted with a muscle problem during the Premier League leaders’ 2-0 win over Burnley last weekend, the Sweden striker did not practice on Monday.
At a pre-match press conference, the Gunners manager stated: “I am concerned because he hasn’t had a lot of muscular issues and he had to leave the pitch and he was feeling something.
That’s never a good sign, especially for a player who is extremely explosive, is always a good thing. We are now looking into the injury situation a little more and will let you know as soon as we can.
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He’s undoubtedly not available (to play Slavia),” the Spaniard added. He isn’t training right now. In order to fully comprehend the extent of the injury, we need to conduct additional tests and scans in the coming days.
With the departures of Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli, Noni Madueke, and Martin Odegaard, there is a long list of absentees from Arsenal’s attacking and creative ranks.
However, with Mikel Merino in contention to start in the Czech capital in place of Gyokeres at Burnley, Arsenal will still be looking for a 10th straight win in all competitions and an eighth consecutive clean sheet against Slavia Prague.
Arsenal, a London club, is seven points clear of reigning champion Liverpool and six points clear of second-placed Manchester City at the top of the Premier League.
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The Gunners have also won all three of their opening Champions League games, including the one that is yet to be declared the champion of Europe.
However, conflict on a number of fronts may still cause issues with fixture congestion, with Arteta urging the Premier League to move Arsenal’s game against Everton so they can’t play two games in three days.
The League Cup quarter-final between Arsenal and Crystal Palace, which was postponed on December 23, according to the English Football League. Due to the scheduled date of December 16th, Palace would now have had to play four games in eight days.
Both major league clubs are scheduled to play two games in three days, with Palace and Arsenal scheduled to start on December 21.
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“It’s hoped they will move our Premier League game because it makes no sense to play two days later,” said Arteta.
I’m certain that they will change the Premier League match as soon as we decide the date for the League Cup game.
He continued, “We have seven players out, so I’m not sure what depth we’re talking about right now because we’re missing a lot of front players.”
Source: Channels TV
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