Arsenal have a huge clash against Tottenham Hotspur coming up, and Mikel Arteta has a number of problems.
The North London Derby is always a big game, but after the Gunners dropped points against Brighton and Hove Albion before the international break, the margin for error is small.
Arsenal will want to go to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and get all three points, just like they did in each of the last two seasons.
However, Arteta could be without as many as seven players for the derby on Sunday.
Seven Arsenal stars could be ruled out of Tottenham clash
Arteta will not be a happy man going into the North London Derby.
A full-strength Arsenal side would’ve been the favourites to beat Tottenham, but there are several big names who could be unavailable for the game.
Some of them have already been ruled out, while others are big doubts.
Declan Rice will definitely not play because he’s suspended, while Mikel Merino is out with an injury and isn’t expected back until October.
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To add to that, Takehiro Tomiyasu is also injured, as is Kieran Tierney, who is still in the Arsenal squad.
The three who are doubts and could miss the game are Riccardo Calafiori, Gabriel Jesus and of course, Martin Odegaard.
Calafiori returned early from international duty after a calf injury, while Jesus stayed back at London Colney to recover from the issue he picked up earlier in the season.
Odegaard is being assessed by Norway and Arsenal’s medical teams after the Arsenal captain suffered a nasty ankle injury on Monday night.
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Arsenal have been hit hard with injuries and Rice’s suspension just before one of the biggest games of the season, and that is a huge blow.
Tottenham fans still think Arsenal will beat them, but their chances of getting a win will increase considerably if all seven of Arteta’s men mentioned above are ruled out.
Spurs’ injury luck looks much better than Arsenal’s.
Richarlison is the only player who is ruled out of the North London Derby, while although Micky van de Ven and Dominic Solanke have knocks too, they are expected to be available (Football London).
An almost fully-fit squad at home against a weakened Arsenal side may just give Tottenham an edge, but the Gunners should still back themselves to get all three points because they are the better side.