Arsenal Dealt Major Blow After Key Man Suffers Injury On International Duty

Arsenal have been dealt a major blow after Sokratis Papastathopoulos picked up an injury while away on international duty this week, according to Greek outlet Gazzetta.gr.

Sokratis helped Greece to a 1-0 victory over Hungary on Friday night and was once again named in the starting line-up for their Nations League encounter with Finland at the Tampere Stadium on Monday.

However, the Arsenal defender was forced off at half-time after being replaced by Georgios Tzavellas and Gazzetta.gr claims the 30-year-old suffered a sprain during the opening forty-five minutes.

Reports circulating on the internet suggest Sokratis has hurt his ankle but Gazzetta.gr don’t give any indication of the severity of the injury or how long the centre-back could be on the sidelines for.

The news will come as a real worry to Unai Emery as Sokratis has proven to be an excellent signing since arriving from Borussia Dortmund in the summer and he’s played a key part in our recent run of good form.

Sokratis will be assessed by Arsenal doctors when he arrives back in north London but he must be considered as a major doubt for the visit of Leicester City to the Emirates Stadium on Monday night.

Hopefully the injury is nothing too serious as we have a busy schedule coming up that will see us play four games in just ten days with matches against Sporting Lisbon, Crystal Palace and Blackpool coming thick and fast after the Leicester game.

If Sokratis is ruled out then Emery will be left relying on just Rob Holding and Shkodran Mustafi as his centre-backs as Laurent Koscielny and Konstantinos Mavropanos remain on the sidelines through injury.