The latest Arsenal injury news ahead of the North London Derby - with updates on new issues suffered by Gabriel and Riccardo Calafiori.
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Arsenal will put their 14-match unbeaten streak to the test in the North London Derby this weekend – but their chances of defeating local rivals Tottenham Hotspur may be set to go down after some bad news from the international break.
Defenders Gabriel Magalhães and Riccardo Calafiori both picked up injuries while on international duty over the weekend, which could deepen Mikel Arteta’s selection headache ahead of Sunday’s match. Players such as Viktor Gyökeres, Noni Madueke and Martin Ødegaard are also battling for fitness ahead of the game, and as many as eight players could miss out for Arsenal.
To help their supporters keep track of the team news ahead of the showdown with Spurs, we’ve collected all of the latest Arsenal injury news below along with the stricken players’ expected return dates when available.
Gabriel & Calafiori pick up international injuries for Arsenal
Saturday proved to be a difficult day for Arsenal defenders, with Gabriel injured during Brazil’s 2-0 win over Senegal while Calafiori was sent home from Italy’s camp within hours of each other.
Gabriel was replaced after a little over an hour of Brazil’s win – which happened to be hosted at the Emirates – after going down with what later turned out to be a quad injury (reported, seemingly wrongly, as a knee injury by some media outlets).
The Brazilian FA stated that tests on Sunday had confirmed the problem, with Gabriel remaining in London before the rest of the national squad travelled to France for a friendly against Tunisia. No detailed prognosis has yet been made available and no return date provided, but it is likely that the centre-back misses at least a short stretch of games, including the North London Derby.
Calafiori, who was sent home from the Italian camp on Saturday after failing to recover from a hip injury, is more likely to be involved this weekend. His withdrawal from the squad is not believed to represent a major issue, however, with The Daily Mirror echoing reports from Italy suggesting that he will be ready to play against Spurs despite the knock.
Will any of Viktor Gyökeres, Noni Madueke or Martin Ødegaard be back to play Spurs?
Arsenal have also been sweating on the fitness of four players who weren’t able to take part in national duties this week – with Ødegaard, Madueke and Kai Havertz (all knee) pushing for a return while summer signing Gyökeres and winger Gabriel Martinelli also face potential late fitness tests due to a pair of unspecified injuries.
Arteta has yet to confirm the availability of any of the five, but did say prior to the international break that they were “not far off” and that they should be “very close” to making their comebacks once the November break was over.
Since then, however, Arteta has sounded a more negative note concerning the fitness of club captain Ødegaard, cautioning that he was “some distance away” from making a comeback, with reports suggesting that his return has been delayed until early December. The remaining four should be back in November, with all having a reasonable chance of playing at least some part against Spurs - although the lack of information about Gyökeres’ situation makes it very hard to be sure that he is close to being involved.
One player who will certainly miss out is striker Gabriel Jesus. The Brazilian, who is rehabilitating after rupturing his ACL in January during an FA Cup matcha against Manchester United, is back in team training but is not scheduled to return to action until late December at the earliest.