Arsenal Team News: Wenger Confirms Injury Boost But Midfielder Out Of Spurs Game

Arsenal will look to bounce back from consecutive defeats when they take on North London rivals Tottenham in the third round of the Capital One Cup on Wednesday night.

Ahead of the trip to White Hart Lane, Arsene Wenger has given Arsenal.com a team news and injury update and it’s mixed news for the Gunners with one player set to return while another key man has been ruled out.

Wenger confirmed that Francis Coquelin will miss the game tomorrow night after being forced off with a knee injury during a 2-0 defeat to Chelsea on Saturday.

The midfielder will be assessed this afternoon and while Arsenal hope it’s just a short-term problem, Coquelin is sure to miss the trip to White Hart Lane tomorrow.

The good news for the Gunners is that Per Mertesacker is available for selection after recovering from a virus that ruled him out of the last five matches.

Wenger also revealed that he’ll field an experienced side against Spurs but will give a chance to one or two of the clubs younger stars with the likes of Alex Iwobi in contention for a place in the squad.

Here is what Wenger told the clubs website:

on the team news…

Francis Coquelin will be out and we have no major problems for anybody else. It should be a similar squad.

on Coquelin…

His knee is swollen and he is being assessed but we hope it is just a short-term problem

on Per Mertesacker…

He is available for selection, yes.

on if youngsters could feature…

Alex Iwobi. I want to keep the squad together. We go game by game so I will make changes, for sure. How many? I’ve not decided yet. It will be quite an experienced squad with one or two younger players.

on Iwobi…

He is in and out a little bit because we travel a lot. He is doing well.

With Coquelin unavailable, Wenger is likely to call upon Mikel Arteta or Mathieu Flamini in the defensive midfield role while Mertesacker could replace Gabriel in the back-four, with the Brazilian international likely to be suspended.

The centre-back was dismissed against Chelsea on Saturday following a clash with Diego Costa and although his appeal hearing will be heard this afternoon, it’s highly unlikely to be overturned so Gabriel is set to miss a minimum of one game. The length of the ban is dependent on if the FA appeal panel agree to reduce his automatic three-game suspension.

Santi Cazorla is also suspended following his dismissal at Stamford Bridge while Jack Wilshere, Danny Welbeck and Tomas Rosicky are all injured.