Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has confirmed centre-back Gabriel will be sidelined for “weeks” after picking up an injury while playing for Brazil. The 27-year-old was forced off in Brazil’s win over Senegal during the international break and will miss Sunday’s North London derby against Tottenham, live on Sky Sports.
The Tottenham game is the first of three key matches for Arsenal, who also host Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Nov 26 before travelling to Chelsea on Nov 30. Arteta said: “Gabi unfortunately picked up an injury with the national team. He will be out for weeks. We need to have another scan next Wednesday. We will have the timeline much more clearly than we have at the moment.”
Arsenal’s next six fixtures
– Sunday: Tottenham (h), PL – Live on Sky
– Nov 26: Bayern Munich (h), CL
– Nov 30: Chelsea (a), PL – Live on Sky
– Dec 3: Brentford (h), PL – Live on Sky
– Dec 6: Aston Villa (a), PL
– Dec 10: Club Brugge (a), CL
Gabriel has been an ever-present this season in an Arsenal side who have conceded just five Premier League goals. Piero Hincapie and Cristhian Mosquera are both in contention to deputise for the Brazilian against Spurs.
“It’s clearly a blow,” Arteta added. “It’s our leader in our backline. To miss him is never a positive thing. The good thing is we have some very good options. They need to stand up now.”
Viktor Gyokores, Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz, Noni Madueke and captain Martin Odegaard have all been on the injured list for Arsenal in recent weeks, but Arteta hopes to have positive news about at least a couple of them ahead of Sunday. “We put a lot of energy during the international break with all the medical staff to try to bring them as quickly as possible,” he said. “So tomorrow we have another training session, to see how some of them are feeling, whether it’s a bit too close to bring him in this game or we feel that they can have a contribution in the game. Tomorrow we’ll have more clarity.”
On how confident he is about some injured players returning, Arteta added: “I am [more optimistic than at Sunderland that they will be back]. Now is the final stage. There is contact around them and pushed into the things they haven’t done. I think they’re going to be with us soon. But I don’t know if Sunday is too soon.”
Who should replace Gabriel at centre-back?
Sky Sports’ Sam Blitz says the injury comes at a crucial time for Arsenal, with Tottenham, Bayern and Chelsea all within a week. Several options exist to replace Gabriel:
– Piero Hincapie: Signed on Deadline Day to cover the left centre-back role, Hincapie is yet to start a Premier League game for Arsenal. Four of his five appearances have come at left-back; his only start was in the Carabao Cup win over Brighton, which saw Arsenal concede six shots on target.
– Cristhian Mosquera: The 21-year-old could pair with William Saliba, but Mosquera has not started in the Premier League since the win over Newcastle, where he made a mistake for the opener and was substituted at half-time. His only start alongside Saliba came in a cup tie at Port Vale.
– Riccardo Calafiori: Another option is to play Calafiori at centre-back and bring in a specialist left-back such as Hincapie or Myles Lewis-Skelly. Arteta has previously expressed reluctance to change two positions when only one player is injured.
Tottenham injury update ahead of derby
Tottenham boss Thomas Frank has received a boost with forward Randal Kolo Muani available after recovering from jaw damage suffered on Nov 8; he has trained wearing a protective mask and is available for selection. Frank also confirmed Pape Sarr and Lucas Bergvall trained and are available. Defenders Ben Davies and Kota Takai returned to training, and Radu Dragusin featured in a behind-closed-doors friendly as he steps up recovery from an ACL injury.
Archie Gray and Mohammed Kudus have returned to training, while James Maddison, Yves Bissouma and Dejan Kulusevski remain sidelined. Dominic Solanke, who underwent minor ankle surgery last month, has not featured since Aug 23. Frank said of Solanke: “Dom is not ready yet. We are very aware that when we put him out there, we want to be as sure as we can that there will be no setback going forward. I am comfortable he will soon be ready.”
