Arsenal boss Arsène Wenger has confirmed he will be without seven first team players for the visit of Tottenham Hotspur in the North London derby this weekend. The Gunners boss gave an injury update at today’s press conference ahead of the big rival game on Saturday evening.
Wenger’s side didn’t pick up any new injuries during their midweek exit from the League Cup at the hands of Southampton but a number of players are still yet to return.
One piece of good news for Arsenal fans is that the French manager confirmed that Mathieu Flamini is available for selection this weekend are missing the past two games with a dead leg picked up ahead of last weekend’s 3-0 win at Aston Villa.
However, Nacho Monreal remains unavailable for this weekend’s game with a back injury. The news is not so serious as Kieran Gibbs is fit and fresh to maintain his position at left-back. Gibbs was unused in Arsenal’s game midweek with Francis Coquelin filling in his position.
Theo Walcott also remains sidelined. It had once been hoped the England international would be ready to make his return for this match but that has been pushed back to October at the earliest. It was against Tottenham back in January that the forward picked up the knee injury that has ruled him out for the past eight months or so.
Mathieu Debuchy and Olivier Giroud are long-term casualties, whilst Serge Gnabry and Yaya Sanogo remain absent.
Wenger told Arsenal.com: “The only difference compared to Villa and Southampton is that Mathieu Flamini might be available again. He had a dead leg. I feel he should be back.
“Everyone else is similar to where they were. Monreal is not back yet. The likes of Giroud, Debuchy and Walcott are unavailable.”
Source: Sokkaa