1 week ago
10
Gunners star injured
©IMAGO
Arsenal already had two centre-backs in the physio room before their Premier League fixture with Wolves on Saturday night, and losing right-back Ben White with a suspected hamstring injury represents a massive blow. The league leaders stuttered over the line with a 2-1 victory over Rob Edwards' rock-bottom side thanks to own goals from Sam Johnstone and Yerson Mosquera, either side of Tolu Arokodare's stoppage-time equaliser. But the bigger concern for Mikel Arteta is how his players appear to be dropping like flies at the moment.
White's substitution early in the first half forced Arteta to change his entire back four around, with Myles Lewis-Skelly coming on to play at left-back. That then shifted Piero Hincapié to centre-back alongside William Saliba, with Jurriën Timber moving to his favoured spot at right-back. Already dealing with the absences of Gabriel Magalhães, Cristhian Mosquera and with Riccardo Calafiori suspended after accumulating five yellow cards, it's once again turning into a defensive crisis for Arteta.
He was able to blood youngster Marli Salmon, 16, in the Champions League against Club Brugge. But that was when the game, as a contest, was over at 3-0 - and it would surely be too soon for the teenager to be thrown in at the deep end in the Premier League. Saliba and Timber have both endured fitness issues in the first half of the season and it can't be guaranteed that they won't be at risk of suffering another setback, having been rushed back into the first team. Arteta even had to put Christian Nørgaard as a centre-back for that game to show the scarce options available, and Arteta will be desperate to avoid any more injuries heading into the festive break. But the Spaniard may be looking at potential reinforcements for his backline if they are hit by any long-term absences.
In the busiest period of the season, the games will start stacking up for Arsenal and if they have to use their defensive depth, it reduces the amount of rotation the Gunners boss can enforce upon his squad. The result of this was clear to see from their performance against Wolves, with tired legs, sluggish build-up and sloppy defending at the back, which nearly cost them the victory. If there are funds to spend, sporting director Andrea Berta may be required to find some defensive targets ahead of the transfer window reopening on January 1, because Arteta may very well need some fresh faces by then.
