Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has announced that centre-back Gabriel will be out for ‘weeks’ ahead of Sunday’s blockbuster north London derby showdown with Tottenham.
The centre-back was forced out of Brazil’s clash with Senegal last Saturday and, now, is guaranteed to miss this weekend’s epic showdown at the Emirates Stadium.
Gabriel has been vital for Arsenal at the back this term, with the Gunners conceding just five goals from their first 11 matches.
Yet they’ll need to cope without the 27-year-old as they continue their charge towards the title.
Arteta, speaking at his pre-match press conference, said: “Gabi unfortunately picked up an injury with the national team. He will be out for weeks.
“We need to have another scan next Wednesday. We will have the timeline much more clearly than we have at the moment.
“It’s clearly a blow., It’s our leader in our backline. To miss him is never a positive thing. The good thing is we have some very good options. They need to stand up now.”
Five things to know about Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta
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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has announced that centre-back Gabriel will be out for ‘weeks’ ahead of Sunday’s blockbuster north London derby showdown with Tottenham
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GETTY
There is some better news, however.
Riccardo Calafiori missed the international break but Arteta is hopeful he’ll be able to be involved against Tottenham on Sunday.
“He wasn’t available [for the international break], he’s been carrying a few things and we had to bring him back. He hasn’t trained yet. Tomorrow we have another training session and we’ll see how he is,” added the Spaniard.
Arsenal will be without Gabriel for the foreseeable future
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Arsenal are already depleted at the current moment in time.
Martin Odegaard, Noni Madueke, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli, and Viktor Gyokeres also missed the break, with the quintent sidelined for the foreseeable future.
Arteta is hopeful, however, that some of them might be able to feature.
“We’ve put in a lot of energy during the international break, with all the medical staff as well, to try to bring them as quickly as possible,” he continued.
“So tomorrow we have another training session, see how some of them are feeling, whether it’s a bit too close for this game, or we feel that they can make a contribution in the game.
“So tomorrow we have more clarity.”
Gabriel and William Saliba have been vital for Arsenal this season
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Meanwhile, regarding Tottenham, Thomas Frank confirmed that Pape Matar Sarr, Lucas Bergvall and Randal Kolo Muani will all return for the showdown.
However, the match comes too soon for Dominic Solanke.
Frank said: “Pape trained today. He’s ready, available.
“Lucas trained today. Ready, available. Kolo Muani, yes. Trained today. Available, of course has a mask [he] needs to play with.
“Dom is not ready yet. I think he also had an article recently where he spoke about it. So we are very, as I said, the same.
“Very aware that when we put him out there, we want to be absolutely sure, as sure as we can be, that no setback going forward. So I’m comfortable he will soon be ready, but I will not put a timeframe on it.”
