Arsenal Injury News: Wenger Offers Update On Giroud, Gibbs + Arteta

Arsenal face a crunch clash against Besiktas at the Emirates on Wednesday night in the second leg of our Champions League play off.

Ahead of the game, Arsene Wenger has been speaking to the media this afternoon at his pre-match press conference and he gave an update on the fitness of Olivier Giroud, Mikel Arteta and Kieran Gibbs.

Speculation this morning claimed that Giroud was set for three months on the sidelines after scans supposedly revealed the striker had broken a bone in his left foot following an innocuous incident during the final stages of our 2-2 draw at Everton on Saturday.

While Wenger wouldn’t be drawn on exactly how long the Frenchman will be out for, the Gunner boss did confirm he will definitely miss the game tomorrow and will see a specialist to determine the full extent of the injury.

‘He will not play,’ said Wenger, when asked about Giroud’s injury. 

‘For the rest, he will see a specialist in England tomorrow (Wednesday) and after we will make an announcement of how long he will be out. 

‘We prepare for the game. It can be a long-term injury. We will see tomorrow (Wednesday). I don’t know if it’s broken. It’s sad for us but we are focused on the game.’ Wenger is quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.

Arsene also gave an update on the fitness of Mikel Arteta. The skipper missed our draw at Everton after picking up an ankle injury last week but thankfully the boss revealed that although the Spaniard will also be unavailable to face Besiktas, the issue will only be short-term.

Full-back Gibbs is another who is currently on the sidelines and the 24-year-old is set to miss out next two games against Besiktas and Leicester City before returning to action following the international break next month. Wenger continued:

“Arteta is a short term injury but is out for tomorrow. Gibbs will be back after the internationals.”

Aaron Ramsey is also out tomorrow after being sent off in the first leg in Turkey last week so we’re a little light in the middle of the park. Jack Wilshere is likely to start alongside Mathieu Flamini, while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is also an option in central midfield, but we’ll have to see who Wenger opts for.

I’ll publish my predicted line-up later today but for now, let us know what side you’d like to see start?