Arsenal are dealing with something of a defensive selection crisis as injuries continue to take their toll during a frantic period of the season.
The Gunners remained without first-choice centre-backs William Saliba and Gabriel for Saturday’s dramatic last-gasp 2-1 defeat by Aston Villa that blew the Premier League title race wide open, with Cristhian Mosquera also sidelined after being forced off in the midweek win over Brentford.
It meant that Mikel Arteta was forced to use his sixth different central defensive partnership in just 22 games across all competitions this term, with summer signing Piero Hincapie - now Arsenal’s only fit senior centre-back - partnered by Jurrien Timber, with Ben White at right-back.
A dearth of experienced options led Arteta to name Marli Salmon on the Arsenal bench at Villa Park, with the academy defender having only turned 16 in August.
To make matters even worse for Arsenal, Riccardo Calafiori - who didn’t appear to be moving too well after the game, judging by video footage that circulated on social media - picked up his fifth yellow card of the season in the second half, meaning he will be suspended for the visit of rock-bottom Wolves to the Emirates Stadium next weekend.
Before that, it’s a return to Champions League business for Arteta’s league phase table-toppers, who are in Belgium on Wednesday night for a clash with Club Brugge at the Jan Breydel Stadium. They also have a trip to Everton and Carabao Cup quarter-final tie against Crystal Palace to come before Christmas, seeing out 2025 against Brighton and at home to Villa.
Here is all the latest Arsenal injury news and return dates as Arteta hopes for some respite in defence at last.
In better news, Declan Rice shrugged off a calf issue suffered against Brentford to start and play the full 90 minutes at Villa Park, while Leandro Trossard was back from his own calf complaint as he came off the bench at half-time and scored the equaliser before going off himself late on - a move Arteta insisted was purely to manage his minutes.
William Saliba
Arsenal fans were disappointed not to see Saliba involved against Villa, with Arteta having twice said last week that the French international - along with Trossard - was only a matter of “days” away from returning from an unspecified knock suffered in training just 24 hours before the draw with Chelsea.
He did not end up making the trip to the Midlands and there was no new update forthcoming from Villa Park, so we now wait and see if Saliba could make his comeback against Club Brugge in the Champions League.
“It is a matter of days with those two, for sure,” Arteta had said on Saliba and Trossard before Villa.
Potential return date: Wednesday December 10, vs Club Brugge (A)
Cristhian Mosquera
Whereas Rice quickly shrugged off his injury suffered against Brentford, Mosquera’s proved to be more serious.
Arteta said in his pre-Villa press conference that the issue was “complicated” and that his fellow Spaniard would undergo further tests to determine its extent.
It was later reported that Arsenal feared Mosquera could miss six to eight weeks with an ankle problem suffered as he competed with the Bees’ Kevin Schade for a header shortly before half-time.
Arteta did not put an exact time frame on it after the loss to Villa, but did admit that Mosquera was facing a spell on the sidelines with an injury that was more severe than first expected - a huge blow for a player who had again made a positive impression while starting alongside Hincapie in the absence of Saliba and Gabriel.
“He's going to be out for weeks unfortunately, it's much more than what we expected,” Arteta said. “But the player was feeling it, so he's going to be out for weeks.”
Potential return date: Unknown
Gabriel
Arsenal badly missed Gabriel’s leadership, experience and composure against Villa, with arguably their most influential player this season so far having been out since suffering an adductor injury while playing for Brazil in a friendly against Senegal at the Emirates on November 15.
Arteta initially said that the 27-year-old - who is making good progress - would be out for “weeks”, which remained the case as of the latest update delivered by the manager ahead of the win over Brentford.
“Big Gabi is doing very well, but that's weeks as well,” Arteta said.
Potential return date: Late December/January
Kai Havertz
Arsenal’s considerable injury woes in attacking areas have mostly cleared over recent weeks, aside from Havertz.
The former Chelsea forward has not played since suffering a knee injury against Manchester United on the opening weekend of the campaign and undergoing what was described as a minor operation.
Havertz - who missed much of the second half of last season with a serious hamstring injury - had looked to be recovering well and ramping up his return, only to suffer a setback that was first revealed publicly by Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann.
“Matter of weeks; let’s see how it evolves in the next few weeks,” Arteta said on Havertz ahead of the Brentford game. “He’s doing really well, he’s doing stuff on the pitch, but I think he needs some time.
“He was doing everything. He could not go to the next level and now it's looking like we have unlocked that. We're all desperate to have him.
“It's a player that personally, I love so much for what he brings to the team. His character, his personality, I see him suffer, being outside.
“His playing record is phenomenal. He's always been available, and I can't wait to have him back around the team playing now because I think it's going to be a massive boost for the team.”
Potential return date: Late December/January
