Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has been confirmed to have tested positive for Covid-19 and will therefore miss the Gunners home clash with Manchester City on New Year's Day.
The club have confirmed the news in a statement that read: "Mikel Arteta will miss our match against Manchester City on New Year's Day after testing positive for Covid-19.
"Mikel is isolating in line with Government guidelines and we wish him well."
The news is eerily reminiscent of early 2020, when the the Arsenal boss tested positive for the virus for the first time after coming into contact with a positive case during a Europa League knockout tie at home to Greek side Olympiacos.
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As a result of that first positive test, Arsenal's game away at Man City was postponed, ultimately being played nearly four months later than originally planned during 'Project Restart' after the Premier League was suspended for three months in the wake of the pandemic.
The news comes at a particularly poor time for the Gunners, who will no doubt miss their manager's presence on the touchline, Arteta's side enjoying a five-game winning run across both the league and the Carabao Cup.
Arsenal have fared relatively well in terms of Covid impacting their fixture list, the Gunners seeing just one of their games postponed this season due to a rise in cases in the Wolves ranks, who they were scheduled to welcome to the Emirates on December 28.
They have seen a number of their players test positive for the virus, with Takehiro Tomiyasu the latest first-teamer to contract Covid-19.
Before the Japan international contracted the illness, Callum Chambers, Cedric and Ainsley Maitland Niles all also returned a positive test.
That meant that four Arsenal's last league outing away at Norwich on Boxing Day, Ben White was forced to deputise at right-back given all four of Arteta's senior right-backs had tested positive for Covid.
Summer signing Albert Sambi Lokonga and Pablo Mari also tested positive in recent weeks, missing out on match-day squads as a result.
The Premier League have faced calls from some sections to temporarily halt all action to stop the spread of the virus, while some have claimed fixtures should go back to being played behind closed doors.
However, Arteta has insisted he hopes he never has to manage under those circumstances ever again.
When asked about the idea of football without fans, Arteta said: "Please don’t go back to that stage.
"We have experienced that and it is something that we don’t like, so hopefully it is not what happens.
"It’s a different sport and football is all about sharing it with people, and having fans around the stadiums.
"When it is not, it’s a completely different sport and the competition gets, I don’t know, lost. It’s not the same.
"We will play like we have to play. What I am saying is that obviously nobody wants to go back to where we were because we have already experienced it - and it is not something we enjoyed a lot."
