Mikel Arteta said Arsenal were 'very worried' about Gabriel Jesus' knee injury sustained in Sunday's FA Cup loss against Manchester United as the latest north London derby draws closer.
The Brazil striker departed after 40 minutes of the third round tie at the Emirates as United, down to 10 men on the hour, progressed via a penalty shoot-out after it finished 1-1 after extra time.
Asked in his pre-match press conference on Tuesday morning for an update on Jesus, Arteta replied: "We know more now and it's not looking good at all. We need to review with one more specialist, so we will probably have better information this afternoon."
Then asked directly if it was an ACL injury, Arteta added: "I don’t want to confirm anything until we’ve had the final report this afternoon. It’s the doctor’s job to do that, but we were very worried straight away after the game and we are very worried today."
Arteta said 'a few could be close' when asked if any players could return for this Premier League NLD back in N7 on Wednesday evening (8pm UK).
That is likely to refer to forward Ethan Nwaneri, who picked up a muscle injury at Brighton on 4 January and defender Riccardo Calafiori, who also missed the United tie due to a muscle issue.
On Calafiori, Arteta said: "His thing is not much, but again, we need another day or two. We’ve been playing every three days and 24 hours becomes really important because they are not long-term injuries, in that case for example. We will have more understanding this afternoon."
England international Bukayo Saka, who damaged his hamstring against Ipswich on 27 December and defenders Takehiro Tomiyasu and Ben White, both out since October with knee problems, remain sidelined.