David Luiz Arsenal
David Luiz Arsenal

Arsenal take on Chelsea in midweek in the Premier League and the Gunners could be without some really important players for this one.

The North London side beat West Brom 3-1 on Sunday so Arteta’s side will definitely go into this one with their tails up. But the manager is sure to sweat over the fitness of some of his key first-team players.

David Luiz has been on the sidelines for some time now and recently he was joined by Granit Xhaka and defender Pablo Mari. Xhaka picked up a groin injury last week while Mari has sprained his right ankle. And it looks like all these three players remain major doubts for the Chelsea game on Wednesday.

The Arsenal boss told the press while discussing the injuries of Xhaka, Pablo Mari and David Luiz: “Let’s see how they recover. Again, we’ve lost so many players in recent weeks, so many big players.

“They have a huge effect in the team and it will be great because we have a very difficult game against [Chelsea].”

David Luiz and Pablo Mari are not likely to be fit in time since they will just be returning to first-team training this week meaning Rob Holding will once again be partnered by Gabriel in central defence vs the Blues.

Apart from these three players, the Arsenal boss is also concerned with the fitness of Emile Smith Rowe after the midfielder had to be taken off in the West Brom match with a hamstring problem.

Arteta added: “I don’t know[how long Smith will be out], he felt something in his hamstring so we took him off.

 

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“Sometimes he cramps and that’s something that’s been happening for a while because he’s still adapting to the league, to the amount of games every three days. Hopefully it’s nothing major.”

Emile Smith Rowe scored Arsenal’s opening goal on Sunday vs the Baggies and he will be a big miss for Mikel Arteta in midweek. Thankfully, the Arsenal manager does have an apt backup in the form of Martin Odegaard.

The absence of Luiz and Mari will also render the defensive unit really thin and if there’s a need to rotate central defenders on Wednesday then someone like Calum Chambers will have to slot in.

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