Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta could be in serious trouble when he names his starting line-up against Brighton on Saturday due to the injuries to Pablo Mari and Granit Xhaka.
Both the players suffered damages during the 3-0 loss to Manchester City in midweek and now there’s just bad news from the treatment room for the North London club.
Xhaka collided with team-mate Matteo Guendouzi and had to be replaced within just the 7th minute of the match and speaking after the match, Arteta confirmed that the midfielder has sustained a sprained ankle.
As per the latest reports, he is likely to be out for the next two weeks meaning he is ruled out for the clash at the Amex Stadium on Saturday.
Pablo Mari also had to be taken off in the 24th minute of the match and the defender seems to have sustained ankle ligament damage and could miss the rest of the 2019-20 season.
This is a serious cause of concern for the Gunners manager since Cedric Soares and Sokratis are also out with injuries and are not going to be fit before Saturday’s game.
Arsenal defender Pablo Mari’s season is over with an ankle injury, according to @David_Ornstein
He made three appearances since joining on loan from Flamengo in January pic.twitter.com/tLOkHt7Y4h
— B/R Football (@brfootball) June 18, 2020
And with David Luiz suspended for this game, it means Rob Holding will be thrown into the mix alongside Shkodran Mustafi in central defence.
Graham Potter now has a serious chance of rattling the Arsenal defensive line and picking up something from this game.
Arsenal are currently 9th on Premier League table and they still have to play teams like Leicester City, Spurs and Liverpool. So if Mikel Arteta is not careful, his side might not even make it to the Europa League next season.
