- Arsenal suffer double injury blow
- Jesus and Partey sidelined
- Both players to be out for a few weeks
WHAT HAPPENED? The Brazilian striker had to be taken off in the final quarter during the Champions League triumph against Sevilla last Tuesday after he complained of feeling discomfort in his hamstring. Arteta revealed that the player has picked up a muscle injury and could potentially be out for the next few weeks, which means that he could potentially be out until the next international break in November.
WHAT THEY SAID: "The scans show that there is a muscle injury. We might miss him for a few weeks again," Arteta told reporters.
"With Gabi I cannot give you any time frame because he always surprises us. He felt something there, it was a really awkward action. It’s true that he had quite a lot of load in those games playing with the national team and with us which he hasn’t done in a long, long time. That’s really bad news for us," he added.
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Meanwhile, Partey who had picked up a thigh injury in training ahead of the Sevilla game is also expected to spend the next few weeks on the treatment table.
"He’s got a muscle injury and we expect him to be out for a few weeks," Arteta said.
"We don’t know the extent of it still, he has more tests today. He got that injury in training, with the last kick of the ball. Very unfortunate."
However, Arteta dismissed the notion that Partey picked up the injury as he travelled with Ghana to play friendlies with Mexico and the USMNT.
"I don’t think [it was because he went away with Ghana]. He was coming from a period of absence and he needed minutes and he played with the national team. We try to always be in touch with them. And then we have two games with Chelsea and Sevilla, very, very close, and we decided not to load him in the first game to play him in Seville - and then that happened in training.
“Sometimes it is difficult, you try to prevent it. If he had got injured against Chelsea or against City, we would have said we had rushed him. But then you rest him and he gets injured. It is things that happen in football.”
IN THREE PHOTOS:
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GettyWHAT NEXT? Jesus and Partey join Jurrien Timber in the injury list and are likely to miss the next set of games against Sheffield, Newcastle United and Burnley. They are also expected to remain unavailable for the Carabao Cup tie against West Ham and the Champions League fixture against Sevilla at the Emirates Stadium.