Arsenal take on Bournemouth on Saturday evening looking to take all three points with them back to north London, though they’ll have to do so without a number of first team stars.
Martin Odegaard has been missing for the Gunners since sustaining ankle ligament damage during the September international break with Norway, while Kai Havertz, Jurrien Timber, Thomas Partey and Oleksandr Zinchenko all failed to join up with their respective national teams for the October internationals.
Bukayo Saka also limped off during England’s disappointing 2-1 defeat to Greece at Wembley last Thursday, leaving Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta with a selection headache for their trip to the south coast at the weekend. That will only have worsened on Sunday night after news emerged of another of his key first team players picking up an injury while away with their national team.
Arsenal forward Gabriel Martinelli a fresh doubt
After missing out on selection for Brazil’s squad in September, Martinelli returned to the side this month as the Selecao prepared for crucial World Cup qualifiers against Chile and Peru.
Though he didn’t start on Friday night during their 2-1 victory over Chile, Martinelli replaced Abner Vinicius in the 85th minute with the scores 1-1 – four minutes later, Luiz Henrique scored to hand them all three points.
However, the Arsenal man sustained a knock on his right calf during his short cameo, which later required an MRI scan. The national team released a statement on Monday morning highlighting the extent of his injury.
“Player Gabriel Martinelli complained of pain in his right calf and underwent an MRI on Sunday night which showed a small area of muscle edema in the area,” the CBF said in a statement via The Standard.
“The athlete continues to undergo physiotherapy treatment under the care of the Brazilian national team’s medical department.”
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Crucially, that means Martinelli won’t return to Arsenal until Thursday at the earliest, with Brazil’s game against Peru at 1.45am BST on Wednesday. Getting him fit to face Bournemouth could therefore prove a tall order, though Arsenal still have a number of options to replace him.
Raheem Sterling could make his first Arsenal start in the Premier League in place of Martinelli, while Jesus is also comfortable operating from the left-wing. Leandro Trossard is also another option Arteta could call upon.
