Premier League leader Arsenal went into the international break boasting one of the meanest defences in Europe, but they have seen three of their key men involved in injury scares.
Injuries to Gabriel and Riccardo Calafiori had already caused alarm before full-back Jurrien Timber joined the list during the Netherlands’ 4-0 thrashing of Lithuania on Monday.
The Gunners, who host north London rivals Tottenham on Sunday. Then, Bayern Munich, the following Wednesday, had registered a club-record eight consecutive clean sheets across all competitions before their 2-2 draw against Sunderland in their last match before the international break.
Brazil defender Gabriel, whose partnership with William Saliba has been one of the best defensive pairings in the league for several seasons, has played a major role in their superb start to the season.
The league leaders have conceded just five goals in 11 games, and the Brazilian has also chipped in with two goals and provides a consistent threat at set-pieces.
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So when he became the first Arsenal defender to pick up an injury, alarm bells would have sounded at their London Colney training ground.
The 27-year-old did not travel to France for Brazil’s friendly against Tunisia on Tuesday after scans confirmed he sustained a thigh injury in Saturday’s friendly against Senegal, when he was forced off in the second half.
Then full-back Calafiori, who has been the left-back in most of their games this season, withdrew from the Italy squad with a hip problem.
The 23-year-old joined up with the team for their World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Norway, but trained alone and did not feature in either match.
However, it seems there is some good news on this front for Arsenal, with reports suggesting the Gunners are hopeful the Italian will be available for Sunday.
Italy boss Gennaro Gattuso said he was pleased with the defender’s commitment to the Azzurri. “Riccardo joined the national team with a physical problem,” he said.
“He showed dedication to the shirt, and we tried to make him grit his teeth, but we couldn’t force it.”
But Gunners fans would have been left fearing the worst on Monday when Timber was injured by a bad tackle during the first half of the Netherlands’ win against Lithuania.
He was treated by the physios after appearing to have sustained a knee injury, but pictures subsequently showed a deep cut to his leg, and he played on for another 30 minutes, being replaced, again raising hopes he will be available for the weekend.
Arsenal are already dealing with various injuries, with forwards Viktor Gyokores, Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz, and Noni Madueke joined by midfielder Martin Odegaard in having missed recent matches, and they will be hoping that their trio of defenders will not be joining them on the sidelines.
