Team News: 8 Men Could Miss Brighton Trip After Arsenal Confirm Huge Injury Blow

Arsenal will be looking to climb above Chelsea in to the top four with a win when they take on Brighton at the Amex Stadium at lunchtime on Boxing Day. 

The club have issued a team news update on Arsenal.com ahead of the game and unfortunately Arsenal have confirmed a major injury blow with the news that Henrikh Mkhitaryan is facing around six weeks on the sidelines.

Mkhitaryan missed the 3-1 victory over Burnley on Saturday after suffering a foot injury during the Carabao Cup defeat to Tottenham last week and Arsenal have revealed the attacker has now been ruled out until the start of February after fracturing his metatarsal.

We could also be without Nacho Monreal at Brighton as the defender is a doubt for Wednesday’s game after being forced off with a tight hamstring against Burnley at the weekend.

Shkodran Mustafi looks set to miss the trip to the South Coast as he’s not back in full training yet having missed the last four games with a hamstring issue while Emile Smith Rowe is also out with a hip complaint.

Hector Bellerin is two weeks away from returning to full training from a calf injury that he sustained against Southampton earlier this month while Dinos Mavropanos is edging closer to full fitness following a niggling groin injury.

Obviously Rob Holding and Danny Welbeck are unlikely to play again this season due to serious knee and ankle injuries respectively so Emery could be without eight players for the trip to Southampton on Boxing Day.

The team news update on Arsenal.com read:

Henrikh Mkhitaryan
Right foot. Fractured metatarsal. Expected to return to full training in six weeks.

Nacho Monreal
Tight right hamstring. Being assessed ahead of Brighton & Hove Albion (a) on Wednesday, December 26.

Shkodran Mustafi
Right hamstring. Expected to return to full training this week.

Hector Bellerin
Left calf. Expected to return to full training in two weeks.

Emile Smith Rowe
Right hip. Expected to return to full training in December.

Dinos Mavropanos
Groin injury. Expected to return to full training in December.

Rob Holding
Left knee. Recovering after surgery.

Danny Welbeck
Right ankle. Recovering after surgery.

It’s another huge blow for Arsenal to lose Mkhitaryan for a prolonged period as it further limits our options in the final third and Emery is going to have to rely on the youngsters as back-up if we don’t dip in to the market this winter.

Arsenal’s options in defence are also low on the ground with Monreal, Bellerin, Mustafi, Mavropanos and Holding all injured so the squad is really being stretched to it’s limits during the busy festive period.