Arsenal facing defensive injury crisis for Champions League clash

Arsenal are facing an injury crisis for their Champions League match against Monaco with up to seven defenders potentially unavailable.

Jurrien Timber and Thomas Partey – the latter of whom deputised for Ben White at full-back in the 1-1 draw at Fulham on Sunday – both missed training on the eve of Wednesday’s fixture.

Gabriel, Riccardo Calafiori and Oleksandr Zinchenko, all sidelined at Craven Cottage, were also absent from the club’s London Colney base. Japan international Takehiro Tomiyasu remains out with a long-term injury.

The setbacks mean Myles Lewis-Skelly, 18, who has made just two first-team appearances for the Gunners, both in the Carabao Cup this season, could be thrust into the European spotlight at the Emirates.

Kieran Tierney, who has not played competitively since he tore his hamstring in Scotland’s second group game at the European Championship in June, is also a shock contender to start.

“We have to manage a lot of the players, so they’re probably not going to be fit for tomorrow and are a doubt,” said Arteta.

“I still have 24 hours to make those decisions and hopefully the right ones. We have to accept the challenge and its opportunities for other players to do that.”

Prior to last month’s international break, Arteta, who has so far been forced to field nine different defensive backlines this season, compared Arsenal’s injury woes to a “nightmare”.

He continued: “I was hoping it would improve, and it did improve, but then very quickly after the first game we started to have issues and more issues than we expected.

“The good news is that the team still reacts and plays in the way that we want and becomes so dominant, and we want to do that regardless of who plays and I think that belief is within the team and it’s really positive.”

Tierney, 27, spent last season on loan at Real Sociedad after he fell down the pecking order at Arsenal. He has not featured in an Arsenal shirt for 492 days – since the Community Shield penalty shootout victory against Manchester City – and last started for the Gunners in a 3-0 home defeat to Brighton on May 14, 2023. He would probably have been sold in the summer but for his injury.

However, Arteta insisted: “He (Tierney) is ready and he’s training really well and he’s going to have an opportunity for sure with the way the team is looking at the moment.

“He’s earned it as well with the way he’s behaved and the way he’s been with us because he’s willing to do it and when that happens you have to give opportunities to those kind of players.”

On Sunday, the Gunners failed to take full advantage of of Liverpool’s game being postponed against Everton and Manchester City’s 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace. They are six points behind Arne Slot’s side in the Premier League, who now have a game in hand.

William Saliba’s second-half equaliser against Fulham came from a corner – Arsenal’s third goal in a row from a corner and their 23rd since the start of last season.

The Gunners were guilty of failing to create enough clear-cut chances at Craven Cottage, but Arteta said he is not concerned about their failure to score from open play in two consecutive games.

“I don’t worry because when I watch the game and the situations we have in open play and what the opposition has created in open play, I don’t know if we can do much more than that,” he said.

“The more I watch it, how the hell we draw that game, it’s difficult to understand but that’s the beauty of football as well. We will adapt, and obviously pull our heads up.”

Arsenal are seventh in the new 36-team Champions League table on 10 points – the same tally as their opponents on Wednesday.