Arsenal beat Huddersfield this weekend in the Premier League and with that, the Reds are now unbeaten in 21 games.
During the past fortnight, the Gunners beat Spurs in the North London Derby and then went on to draw with Manchester United away from home and finally picked up all three point against the Terriers.
But all those fine results might have come at a huge cost for Unai Emery and his festive plans.
A number of Arsenal players have picked up injuries and suspensions during all these games – so much so that the manager now has some tough calls to make.
Rob Holding picked up an ACL injury last week and he will now have to undergo surgery. The official word is that the player will be out of action for six to nine months.
Shkodran Mustafi is currently out with a hamstring injury and while the centre-back is expected to recover quickly but he will not be available for Arsenal’s game vs Southampton next weekend after he picked up his fifth yellow card of the season.
The same is the case with Sokratis who will also be serving a one-match suspension due to five yellow cards.
All these absentees mean, Stephan Lichtsteiner is now the only fully fit defender amongst the ranks.
Just want to say a big thank you to all the fans, players and staff members for the support during the past couple of days. Gutted to get injured during a strong period for the team! pic.twitter.com/EC466il7aG
— Rob Holding (@RobHolding95) December 7, 2018
Nacho Monreal and Laurent Koscielny have both made themselves available but both of them have played very little to no games.
Arsenal will take on Qarabag in the Europa League on Thursday and with the Gunners already into the next round, Unai Emery is expected to make a number of changes.
Both Laurent Koscielny and Nacho Monreal will surely be involved in this game only for them to get some match fitness under their belts before the weekend’s Premier League clash.
Aaron Ramsey is also another player who is out injured with an ankle issue but the Welshman should not be missed too much given the array of attacking options that Unai Emery has at his disposal.
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Read: Football pundit reveals why Unai Emery is different from all the other Premier League managers.
