Wenger Confirms Arsenal Injury Blow Ahead Of Tottenham Showdown

Arsenal have been hit by a major injury blow ahead of Sunday’s showdown with Tottenham after Hector Bellerin was all-but ruled out of the North London derby.

Bellerin missed Wednesday night’s 5-1 thrashing at Bayern Munich in the Champions League after picking up a minor groin injury but there were hopes the Spaniard could return to face Spurs this weekend.

However, speaking to Arsenal.com after the game at the Allianz Arena, Gunners boss Arsene Wenger revealed that Bellerin is unlikely to recover in time to face their North London rivals.

Wenger said:

I don’t think Bellerin will be available for Sunday but there is a small chance. From tonight we don’t have any new injuries.

If Bellerin does end up missing out, it will be a huge blow for Arsenal as they’ve lost four of the five games the youngster hasn’t started so far this season and have conceded 13 goals in the process.

In his absence, Mathieu Debuchy is likely to continue to deputise at right-back but the Frenchman will need to put in a better performance than he did against Bayern as he struggled badly at times.

With Bellerin set to remain on the sidelines, Arsenal look to be heading in to the Spurs game without at least nine first team players as Aaron Ramsey, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Theo Walcott, Mikel Arteta, David Ospina, Jack Wilshere, Danny Welbeck and Tomas Rosicky all remain injured.

Laurent Koscielny also missed the Bayern game but the French defender is expected to shake off a minor hip problem to start on Sunday.