Arsenal
Arsenal team news update: 3 players set to miss final game against Brighton
Arsenal are set to be without three players for their final Premier League game of the season against Brighton at the Emirates on Sunday.
Arsenal go into the final day of the Premier League season needing to beat Brighton to stand a chance of clinching a Europa Conference League qualification place.
A late victory at Crystal Palace on Wednesday made it four consecutive league wins, which have given the Gunners a glimmer of hope that they can salvage something from what’s been a disastrous campaign.
However, Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Hector Bellerin will miss Arsenal’s final game on Sunday after failing to recover from a leg injury that kept him out of the win at Selhurst Park in midweek.
Bellerin picked up the injury against Chelsea earlier this month and will now miss the visit of Brighton to the Emirates this weekend, raising the question as to whether he may have played his last game for the club.
Arteta was quizzed about Bellerin’s future at his pre-match press conference today but the Arsenal boss pointed to the fact that the full-back is under contract and is expected to remain at the club this summer despite rumours of a possible move abroad.
Arteta told Arsenal.com:
on Hector Bellerin’s future…
Hector is not fit [for Sunday] so he will not be playing the last time. Like everybody that has a contract, he remains here.
There was no update from Arteta on the fitness of David Luiz today but the centre-back remains a major doubt for Sunday’s game. Luiz has missed Arsenal’s last four matches with a thigh injury and given that he wasn’t even on the bench against Palace on Wednesday, he expected to miss out once again this weekend.
The only other piece of team news concerns Mat Ryan and the goalkeeper won’t be available for selection against Brighton as he’s not eligible to face his parent club due to the terms of his loan agreement.
Arsenal head into the final weekend sitting ninth in the table but are just one point behind Tottenham and Everton. With the duo facing difficult away trips to Leicester and Man City, victory for Arsenal on Sunday could see them snatching seventh place and with it qualification to the Europa Conference League.
