Arsenal
Arsenal Team News: Boss Confirms Trio Will Miss Southampton As Fears Grow Over Key Man
Arsene Wenger has confirmed he’ll be without three players for Arsenal’s clash with Southampton as fears grow over Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Arsenal will look to put their Europa League exploits behind them and focus on the Premier League when we take on Southampton at the Emirates on Sunday.
Ahead of the game, Arsene Wenger has provided a team news and injury update to the media including the latest on attacker Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
The Armenian international limped out of our 4-1 victory over CSKA Moscow in the first leg of our Europa League quarter-final on Thursday night after picking up a knee injury in the second half.
Mkhitaryan is set to undergo a scan today after the initial assessment suggested the playmaker has damaged his medial ligament after being replaced by Alex Iwobi in the 61st minute.
Wenger has already confirmed Mkhitaryan won’t be available to face Southampton but the boss is concerned he could be facing several weeks on the sidelines.
The boss is quoted as saying by the Evening Standard.
“He has a scan this afternoon but his medial ligament is touched so he will not be available for Sunday,” .
“He will not play. For how long he will be out we will know that after the scan. But the first impression is not too positive today. I fear [it could be several weeks] and I hope I’m wrong.”
It will be a huge blow if Mkhitaryan is ruled out for any significant period as he’s made a positive start to life at Arsenal following his move from Manchester United in January.
Goalkeeper David Ospain has been ruled out for another two-to-three weeks after suffering an ankle injury in training ahead of the CSKA Moscow clash yesterday.
In a triple blow, Wenger also confirmed that Ainsley Maitland-Niles will miss the visit of Southampton this weekend but the versatile midfielder could be back in contention to face CSKA next week.
Wenger told Arsenal.com:
on Ospina…
Ospina is out for two to three weeks.on Maitland-Niles…
Ainsley is short for this weekend, but he might be back for Moscow.
Arsenal head in to the weekend action sitting sixth in the table but with no chance of finishing in the top four, I expect Wenger to rest some of his key players against the Saints ahead of Thursday’s trip to Russia.
