Arsenal injury updates ahead of their Premier League season opener at the Emirates on Sunday.
The 13 time English champions will begin their latest quest for a league title against Wolves on Sunday at Home. Gunners came close to silverware in the last two seasons. Even pushing the title decider to the final day previous season.
CHALLENGING FOR THE TITLE
Manchester City have been relentless since Pep took charge of them in 2016 winning six titles in his eight seasons. During this time only Liverpool, in the middle of a Covid hit campaign managed to beat them. Liverpool in the 2019-20 title winning season was almost injury free which helped them perform consistently throughout the campaign which in fact is deemed lucky by some of the experts. So having an injury free campaign is something all managers wish to have but it’s rare in this era.
CONSISTENCY THE KEY
Nowadays having a well equiped squad with consistant replacements is key for every team. Like the last campaign where Man City had their talisman Kevin De Bruyne injured for some parts of the season and their star striker Erling Haaland also missing a few matches, still managed to clinch the title. This is mostly due to the fact of having understudies who perform when given their chance. Liverpool missing out on a couple of titles with a single point deficit, highlights the fact that each and every point is valuable. For that Arteta would need a fully fit squad for the upcoming season.
INJURY UPDATES AND RETURN DATES
Let’s look at some of the injury updates for Arsenal ahead of their season opener against Wolves on sunday.
Jurien Timber
Jurien Timber joined the Gunners last Summer from Ajax. But was sidelined for most part of the season due a knee injury he suffered against on his debut. While the Dutchman made a comeback at the end of the season, again a slight foot injury disrupted his pre-season. Arteta has confirmed that he will return to team training soon and will be back on the field this month.
“It is fine,” he said.
“He’s been doing some individual work, that’s clear now and we expect him to be ready to train with the group in the next week because he has no reaction. Very positive.”
Takehiro Tomiyasu
In the case of Takehiro Tomiyasu, the news is a bit dismal; he is expected to be sidelined for a few weeks now. The Gunners boss confirmed after their win over Lyon on Sunday. The Japanese international missed 13 games last season and looks like he will be sidelined for the season opener at the Emirates. The potential date for his return is unknown.
“I think it will take weeks on that one, unfortunately, and poor Tomi because of everything that he does,” added the Gunners boss.
“But he’s going to have to be patient and work through it because I think it’s going to take a few weeks.”
Fabio Viera
The Portuguese midfielder Fabio Viera had struggled to find form lately due to injuries, missing 20 games in total. The midfielder was sidelined against Lyon on sunday through a “minor hip injury” according to football.london.
Possible return date unkown
THIRD TIME LUCKY?
Arsenal have been one of the best teams in recent times and if they are on the quest to challenge City, Arteta will need a fully fit squad which is perfectly rotatable. William Saliba was an integral part of the squad for Arteta but his absence during the climax stages of the season did hamper their title hopes in the 2023-24 campaign. With the acquisition of Ricciardo Calafiori from Bologna they have bought some defensive reinforcements.
After two seasons of coming close, Arsenal would be looking to bring back the Premier League title to North London.
As Arteta and co are gearing up for a new season. It is certain that the depth and versatility of the squad will be put to test once again.
All the information is from a trusted football source, The Standard.
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