Wenger Confirms Injury Blow: Arsenal Star To Miss Crucial Liverpool Clash

Arsenal have been dealt an injury blow ahead of their showdown with Liverpool after Arsene Wenger confirmed Olivier Giroud has picked up a nasty hamstring injury.

Giroud was recalled to the starting eleven last night as he lead the line during Arsenal’s Carabao Cup quarter final victory over West Ham at the Emirates Stadium.

However, the French international pulled up clutching the back of his thigh in the second half and looked in pain as he limped off to be replaced by Reiss Nelson in the 78th minute.

Arsenal’s injury woes deepened during the closing stages of the game as Francis Coquelin also limped off in stoppage time after seemingly picking up a groin problem.

Speaking after the narrow 1-0 win in north London, Wenger has now confirmed that Giroud has suffered a hamstring problem and the initial signs are that the injury could be serious.

The Gunners boss says Giroud will undergo a scan on Thursday to determine the full extent of the injury but it looks like the striker will be ruled out for the entire festive period.

That means the 31-year-old will miss Friday’s huge Premier League clash with Liverpool while he’s also set to sit out games against Crystal Palace and West Brom before the New Year.

However, there was slightly better news for Arsenal regarding Coquelin as Wenger believes the midfielder has a chance to be available against Liverpool as his injury may only have been cramp.

Wenger told Arsenal.com:

on if Giroud’s injury is bad…
In his statement [to me], it doesn’t look very good.

on Giroud being out for the festive period…
It looks like that. We have to wait. Nowadays you do the scan 48 hours after the injury. That will happen on Thursday, then we’ll have a precise kind of grade on what his hamstring is. When you listen to him, the pain is quite big, but the grade is not always linked with the intensity of the pain.

on Coquelin…
I would say Coquelin has a chance for Friday night. Giroud definitely looks a hamstring and that’s of course disappointing, let’s hope it will not be too bad.

It will be a big blow for Arsenal to lose Giroud over the busy Christmas period as although he’s not a regular starter, he is an excellent impact substitute for the Londoners so his presence will be missed.