Ahead of the North London derby this weekend, Arsenal boss Arsène Wenger has given an injury update and team news with the latest on Theo Walcott, Nacho Monreal and Mathieu Flamini.
The Gunners boss confirmed that Mathieu Flamini is likely to be ready to return to the squad after missing their last two games with a dead leg picked up just before last weekend’s victory at Aston Villa.
Nacho Monreal remains sidelined ahead of this weekend’s game with Tottenham Hotspur due to a back injury. Kieran Gibbs will remain as the Gunners’ starting left-back. The England international was left out of their Capital One Cup defeat by Southampton on Tuesday with Francis Coquelin filling in.
Arsène Wenger has confirmed that Theo Walcott is still unavailable. The England forward is expected to return to first team action next month after being out of action since January, picking up a knee injury in Arsenal’s 2-0 home win against Spurs in the FA Cup.
Mathieu Debuchy and Olivier Giroud are long-term casualties.
Wenger told the club’s official website:
“The only difference compared to Villa and Southampton is that Mathieu Flamini might be available again. He had a dead leg. I feel he should be back.
“Everyone else is similar to where they were. Monreal is not back yet. The likes of Giroud, Debuchy and Walcott are unavailable.”
Arsène Wenger rested a number of first-team players midweek in the cup so the first-team will be fresh for the big derby on Saturday. The likes of Mesut Özil, Aaron Ramsey, Danny Welbeck, Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker did not feature.
Add Sportslens to your Google News Feed!
