🏟️🚨Arsenal suffer double injury setback ahead of Monaco clash and could be without SEVEN first team players

Arsenal suffer double injury setback ahead of Monaco clash and could be without SEVEN first team players

Arteta could be forced to field a much different XI than planned against the principality side.

Ryan Smart

Ryan Smart

Arsenal have suffered another injury setback and could now be without seven first team players for their Champions League clash against Monaco.

The Gunners are currently seventh in the group stage table and inside the automatic qualification positions for the last 16 stage.

They have won three out of their five matches, including a comprehensive 5-1 win over Sporting Lisbon during the last round of fixtures.

Tomorrow’s opponents Monaco are eighth and only behind Arsenal on goal difference, making tomorrow’s clash a tricky encounter for both sides.

But it has got even more challenging for Mikel Arteta’s side just over 24 hours from kick-off in north London.

Football.london reporter Kaya Kaynak has revealed that midfielder Thomas Partey was absent from training on Monday.

But in perhaps more significant news, the defensive quartet of Gabriel Magalhaes, Riccardo Calafiori, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Jurrien Timber were also not in full training ahead of the game.

Timber and Partey will be concerns for Arsenal as they started Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Fulham, with Gabriel, Calafiori and Zinchenko all absent.

But a bigger issue for the Gunners will be their lack of defensive options.

Arsenal players in training before their Champions League fixture against Monaco (Image: Getty)

Arsenal players in training before their Champions League fixture against Monaco (Image: Getty)

Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu are already on the treatment, meaning Arsenal could be without seven players – all seven of those either defenders or players that have regularly played in a defensive role this season.

Should Arteta be without all of those players, he would be left with William Saliba and Jakub Kiwior as his only senior defenders.

But speaking after the 1-1 draw at Fulham, Arteta was hopeful that Gabriel, Calafiori and Zinchenko – who are reportedly not dealing with serious injuries – could return against Monaco: “I hope they can. But it’s more a question for the doctors and the physios to understand where we are.

“We are missing a lot of players in the backline. The good thing is that whatever we put there, they respond. They respond with a good attitude and performance.”