Arsenal had a wonderful start to their quarter-finals of the Europa League as they picked up a comfortable victory 4-1 victory over CSKA Moscow on Thursday night. But it seems that the win might have come at a cost.
The Gunners are set to face Southampton at home on Sunday and by the looks of it midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan will miss out on the game. The Armenian was forced off the pitch on Thursday in the 61st minute in what looked to be a knee injury and now Arsene Wenger has confirmed that the playmaker will be unavailable on Sunday.
But the bigger headache for the manager is the fact that Mkhitaryan might very well be missing from action for a couple of weeks if the injury turns out to be serious.
Wenger said: “He has a scan this afternoon but his medial ligament is touched so he will not be available for Sunday,”
“He will not play. For how long he will be out we will know that after the scan. But the first impression is not too positive today. I fear [it could be several weeks] and I hope I’m wrong.”
Goalkeeper David Ospina is also a victim of the Moscow game as he is ruled out for two to three weeks after picking up an injury during training before the Europa League clash.
Arsene Wenger also confirmed that Ainsley Maitland-Niles will miss the visit of Southampton this weekend but also added that the midfielder will be back in contention before the Gunners travel to Moscow for the second leg of the Europa League quarter-finals.
Wenger said: “on Ospina. Ospina is out for two to three weeks.
“on Maitland-Niles. Ainsley is short for this weekend, but he might be back for Moscow.”
Arsenal currently sit sixth on the Premier League table – 13 points behind four placed Tottenham Hotspur and it is now virtually impossible for them to bag that top four spot. So their only way of gaining entry into the Champions League next campaign is to win the Europa League this season.
