Arsenal have been dealt a double blow with the news that Sead Kolasinac and Mohamed Elneny are set to miss Sunday’s trip to Leeds United after testing positive for COVID-19.
Kolasinac played for Bosnia and Herzegovina during their 3-1 defeat to Holland in the Nations League on Sunday and was in-line to keep his place for the match against Italy this evening.
However, the Bosnian FA confirmed today that Kolasinac won’t be involved against the Italians after returning a positive COVID test which means he’ll now have to self-isolate until he provides a negative result.
The defender is now set to miss Sunday’s trip to Elland Road when Arsenal take on Leeds Utd and is also in danger of siting out the Europa League clash with Molde the following Thursday.
As cited by the Independent, a statement from the Bosnian FA said:
“Sead Kolasinac was retested this morning. The results of that test have just arrived, which show that our defender is positive for the SARS-Cov-2 virus.”
Kolasinac isn’t the only Arsenal player being forced to isolate as the Egyptian FA also released a statement today confirming that Elneny has tested positive for COVID-19 again.
The midfielder featured during Egypt’s African Cup of Nations win over Togo on Saturday but missed the return game last night after testing positive for Coronovirus on Monday afternoon.
Elneny has been self-isolating in Cairo ever since and Arsenal had hoped he may be allowed to fly back to London if he tested negative, however, the Daily Mail report that the midfielder has tested positive for a second time today.
It means Elneny will remain in Egypt until he’s cleared to return to the UK but he’s set to miss Sunday’s trip to Leeds meaning Gunners boss Mikel Arteta will be forced into a change in midfield.
Elneny started alongside Thomas Partey during Arsenal’s defeat to Aston Villa before the international break so Granit Xhaka could be in-line for a recall this weekend – although Dani Ceballos is another option for the Londoners.
Arsenal will hope Elneny and Kolasinac are available again soon as they look to get their Premier League campaign back on track with a positive result at Elland Road on Sunday as the defeat to Villa has left them sitting 11th in the table.
