Arsenal have often been left cursing their injury luck during the Mikel Arteta era as more misfortune arrived over the November international break with Gabriel entering the treatment room.
An injury in his right thigh picked up during Brazil’s friendly victory over Senegal has sidelined the centre back. Gabriel has been critical to Arsenal’s success this season with his defensive contributions and attacking output from set pieces.
While the severity of his injury remains uncertain, early reports suggest that he will be absent for one or two months, potentially missing 15 matches in total for Arsenal. A lengthy absence would prove devastating to the fight for silverware, which could hinge on a successful festive period.
The north London giants are greeted with three challenging fixtures on their return from the international period—a meeting against local rivals Tottenham Hotspur followed by duels with Bayern Munich and Chelsea. Gabriel could be absent for plenty of pivotal fixtures after the trip to Stamford Bridge, too.
Here are three replacements for the star defender in Arsenal’s rearguard.
Cristhian Mosquera
The most obvious replacement for Gabriel, who has started all of Arsenal’s Premier League and Champions League matches this term, is Cristhian Mosquera. The summer recruit was picked up from Valencia for exactly this kind of situation and has already featured for the Gunners on 12 occasions this term.
The Spaniard performed admirably when chucked in at the deep end to replace William Saliba early in the season, producing impressive displays against Liverpool, Nottingham Forest and Athletic Club—two of those appearances ended with clean sheets.
The talented 21-year-old has immediately proven his worth and while he won’t be breaking up the impenetrable partnership of Saliba and Gabriel any time soon, he will have earned Arteta’s trust as their ready-made replacement.
He could be a tad rusty having been used sparingly in recent weeks for the Gunners, but he’s shown he has the capacity to step into Arsenal’s defence when required.
Piero Hincapié
Arsenal’s other defensive signing has seldom been seen this season. Injury prevented Piero Hincapié from making an immediate impression on his arrival in English football, limited to just five appearances in total.
The Ecuadorian represented his country twice over the international break and has already been utilised as both a centre back and left back for Arsenal’s second-string side. With years of experience at Bayer Leverkusen, albeit mainly operating in a back three, Hincapié should be able to make the jump to Arteta’s lineup with little fuss.
The advantage of Hincapié is his left-footedness, which is useful albeit not essential when lining up on the left side of the defence. The South American’s athleticism and ferocity are also useful attributes against elite forwards in the coming weeks.
Riccardo Calafiori
Much like Hincapié, Riccardo Calafiori has the capacity to feature at centre back or left back. The latter is where he’s been selected this season, rising above Myles Lewis-Skelly in the pecking order to start all 11 Premier League matches.
Calafiori is an adept centre back, but moving him from left back poses a risk. Further disturbing the defence which has brought Arsenal so much joy this season might not be a wise move, especially considering there are other candidates who can fill Gabriel’s shoes.
Of course, Lewis-Skelly has proven himself as a capable left back and would have no issues returning to the Premier League XI to allow Calafiori to move centrally, but it could be a gamble worth avoiding for Arteta.
For the clash with Tottenham, Calafiori is also an injury doubt—although he should feature.
READ THE LATEST ARSENAL NEWS, TRANSFER RUMOURS AND MORE
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Three Ways Arsenal Can Cope Without Injured Gabriel.
