Arsenal is riding high on a wave of success, having scored 13 goals in their past three matches following the international break. They are getting ready for a titanic Premier League battle against Manchester United.
In addition to claiming victory against Sporting Lisbon, the Gunners have dismantled both Nottingham Forest and West Ham. They have also been able to defeat Sporting Lisbon.
As a result of Martin Odegaard’s return to his playmaking form and Bukayo Saka’s outstanding performance on the pitch, Arsenal have risen to the position of second place in the league rankings.
They are going to play United on their own grounds on Wednesday, and they will be facing a revitalised team that will be coached by Ruben Amorim. The recent 4-0 victory that Manchester United achieved over Everton, which included goals scored by Marcus Rashford and Joshua Zirkzee, is sure to instill a sense of self-assurance in the team as they go to north London.
However, Arsenal’s fearsome form may be put to the test by a slew of injuries, with six important players potentially being out for the remainder of the season. One of them is Gabriel Magalhaes, a central defender who has been vital in recent triumphs but who was pulled off in the previous two matches owing to an ongoing injury worry. Magalhaes’ availability is currently in question.
Before being forced to leave the pitch, Gabriel was able to contribute to the team by scoring goals against Sporting and West Ham FC. Following a collision with Lukasz Fabianski on Saturday that resulted in a penalty, Mikel Arteta confirmed that the substitution was not due to concussion procedures.
According to Arteta, “It was connected to the injury that he had sustained in Lisbon in the past.” “It is obvious that he did an excellent job to be a part of that, but due to the outcome and the niggle that he is experiencing, we have made the decision to remove him from the team.”
Gabriel’s message on Instagram, which read, “+3 [points] and we continue fighting together! “, has given Arsenal supporters reason to be optimistic about the possibility that he may be included in the starting lineup for the match against Manchester United. I am grateful to you, Gunners, for your support! A bicep and a red love emoji was sent alongside the message “See you on Wednesday!” On the other hand, Mikel Arteta is going to have to deal with defensive concerns regardless of whether Gabriel plays or not since Takehiro Tomiyasu and Ben White are not going to be playing.
In contrast to White, who has been out for several months due to a knee injury that occurred one month ago, Tomiyasu has been struggling with a knee issue throughout the whole season. In the 56th minute of the match against West Ham, Riccardo Calafiori was taken out of the match by Oleksandr Zinchenko. This is another cause for concern.
Given the small amount of time that has passed between games, Arteta claims that the Italian has been “dealing with little niggles in the last few weeks.” As a result, the Italian is a potential candidate for the encounter against United. Concerns have also been raised over the midfielders Mikel Merino and Thomas Partey, both of whom were absent from the triumph over West Ham.
“Unfortunately, both of them picked up injuries, and the game started too early, so they were unable to be a part of the squad,” Arteta disclosed. Merino is suffering from a knee problem, whilst Partey is suffering from a muscular injury.
Arteta is renowned for keeping injury information to himself before matches, but during his pre-match news conference on Tuesday at 1.30 p.m., he may give some clarification on the six players named above. Arteta is known for keeping his cards close to his chest.