Arsenal have been rocked by another injury to one of their squad in the wake of their FA Cup exit at the hands of Manchester United on Sunday, it has been revealed.
Arsenal’s season stuttering as injuries mount up
Inside seven days, Arsenal’s chances of silverware have taken a massive hit with Mikel Arteta’s side looking likely to be without a trophy once come the end of the campaign. A 1-1 draw with Brighton in the Premier League left them still six points off league leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand on the Gunners and, perhaps more importantly, an almost fully fit squad.
Three days later, the Gunners were beaten 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final tie with Newcastle, despite having no shortage of chances to win the game and creating almost three times the expected goals of their opponents.
On Sunday, it was almost deja-vu as they welcomed Manchester United to north London in the FA Cup third round, only to squander several gilt-edged chances and end up exiting the competition on penalties – perhaps no surprise given they are without their best attacker in Bukayo Saka.
|
Arsenal vs Newcastle and Manchester United [stats via Fotmob] |
|
|---|---|
|
Expected goals |
6.44 |
|
Goals scored |
1 |
|
Shots |
49 |
|
Shots on target |
10 |
|
Big chances |
10 |
|
Big chances missed |
10 |
Quizzed after the game, Arteta claimed he felt his side’s fortunes were “unbelievable”.
“It’s unbelievable”, he told the media. “Obviously, you measure the performance and what we did in relation to the position, you-know, you deserve to win the game by a mile. But the reality is we are out and the only thing that’s going to be judged is that but internally I can’t.”
Now, the latest news surrounding striker Gabriel Jesus will leave him even more frustrated, as injuries tear through the manager’s depth up front.
Arsenal set to lose Jesus for the season
That comes courtesy of Arsenal insider Con MarbleHalls on X [formerly Twitter], who has revealed that the “early indications are Gabriel Jesus has suffered a ACL rupture” during the first half against the Red Devils.
The Brazilian forward went over Bruno Fernandes on the edge of his own penalty area before needing to be stretchered off midway through the first half, with Raheem Sterling coming on to replace him.
And after the game, Arteta admitted that his injury was not good: “No update but it’s not looking good. He was in quite a lot of pain, he had to come off on a stretcher and he’s not looking good.”
The ACL prognosis, which usually requires around nine months to recover from, is backed up by injury analyst Physio Scout on X, who added that what was seen “usually points towards an ACL injury”.
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Were Arsenal set to lose Jesus for a significant period of time, it would leave them with just four senior forwards to cover their front three, with Saka and Ethan Nwaneri both still sidelined through injuries of their own.
With the January transfer window open, it would feel as though Arteta and co. would have to act just to avoid seeing the remaining members of their front line run into the ground over the months ahead.