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TEAM NEWS: Arsenal Face Injury Crisis With Duo Set To Miss Hull

By mac14 on October 15, 2014

It looks like Arsenal are facing something of an injury crisis in defence as Laurent Koscielny is set to miss the Hull City game on Saturday.

Koscielny pulled out of the France squad last week after being diagnosed with having acute tendinitis in his ankles but initial reports suggested he should recover in time to play this weekend.

However, the Telegraph are claiming today that the injuries need more time to recover properly so Arsene is set to leave Koscielny out when the Tigers come to the Emirates on Saturday afternoon.

This will leave us extremely short of options at the back as Calum Chambers – who is our only recoginised back-up at centre-back – is suspended. Hector Bellerin is expected to start at right-back but we will have a huge void to fill in the middle.

The Telegraph seem to think that Nacho Monreal is the man Wenger will turn to but I’d prefer to see Isaac Hayden come in. Monreal at centre-back doesn’t fill me with confidence so I’d rather we give a youngster like Hayden a chance to impress.

In what’s a double blow, the newspaper also claims that Mikel Arteta won’t be considered this weekend. The Spaniard is due to return to full training on Friday following a calf injury and some reports suggested he’d be back to face Hull.

However, it looks like he will need more time to get back up to speed so the earliest he’s expected back is against Anderlecht next Wednesday, which means Mathieu Flamini will continue in midfield this weekend.

Aaron Ramsey could also be back in contention for that Champions League clash as he’s set to return to full training on Monday after three weeks out with a hamstring injury he picked up against Tottenham.

There is also positive on Theo Walcott as he could be back in the squad against Hull after returning to training. There’s practically no chance he’ll start but we may see him make an appearance off the bench.

I personally feel it’s a little too soon and he should have had a run-out with the Under-21’s first, but obviously it’s Arsene’s call. It’s certainly great to have him back as he’s been hugely missed over these last nine months.