Arsenal’s medical team have confirmed that Mohamed Elneny is out of Saturday’s game against Norwich having picked up a hamstring strain in a behind closed doors friendly with Brentford last week.
The Egyptian international is expected to be sidelined for about three weeks.
There is good news though, with both Thomas Partey and Gabriel Magalhaes available for selection after overcoming ankle and knee injuries respectively. The duo have yet to make an appearances this season, and after three defeats, their availability will be welcome news for under-pressure boss Mikel Arteta.
Ben White is also back, having missed the Chelsea and Man City games because of Covid-19, while Eddie Nketiah is fit again after his ankle problem.
Granit Xhaka, who tested positive for Covid on international duty, is suspended following his red card, and will not be available for selection until the North London derby on September 26th.
In case you forgot, the Gunners are in desperate need of a win after opening the season with three consecutive defeats, so three points against the Canaries is a must on Saturday.
“In you forgot…”
No dear, we don’t need reminding.
Also haven’t forgot Xhaka getting sent off for a very silly tackle, however harsh the decision was.
Let’s hope Partey starting gets a party started.
Gosh darn it. Partey, the Ghanaian footballer, and the word party, a social gathering of invited guests, sound absolutely identical.
What a world. Please, no one inform the tabloids. They’ll be all over this like a Rashley Cole.
Doo doo doo everybody do Lokonga.
Anything mentioned on ESR?
And Sambi? Roberti mentioned he had a knock for the Belgium game.
The physician only has record of the sick.
This sounds like a proverb and we’re not wise enough to comprehend it.
Just read the Gabriel article, and have seen some comments around him needing to nail down a spot and justify his transfer fee. Not sure why some aren’t convinced on this bloke, or why they think he took some time to adapt last year. He was our best player in the first half of last season, bar none. Won the club’s player of the month award 3 times before Christmas. He has been a good player since he started, well worth 30 million. I know no-one is getting stuck into him per se but I think he is under appreciated.… Read more »
Yeah it was pretty strange seeing mari picked over him a lot in the 2nd half last, that absolutely has to stop this year. If he’s fit, he needs to be one of the first names picked.
Agreed, I thought he was phenomenal at the beginning of the year. It certainly seemed like covid nailed him pretty hard, I’m confident it was a good player struggling for form rather than an average player in good form. Looking forward to having him back- I was equally baffled when some last year were backing Mari ahead of him.
Completely agree, and have to say I’m worried about Arteta’s constant shuffling of the defensive pairings will prevent him from really kicking on. Reading his comments today that Tomiyasu ‘can play anywhere in the back four’ concerns me. I’d like a solid player in each position, rather than more room for fussing and overthinking.
He’s one of my favourites in the current set up. His performance in the old Trafford win last season shows he can develop into a truly elite defender.
I like his profile, physicality and attitude, but think it’s also fair to say his form was patchy in the second half of last season. He was our best player early season but this was through the awful run we were on in the run up to Christmas. We then had our best run of form with Mari and Holding and when Gabriel was back in the team he was getting caught giving the ball away a lot in possession and a some sloppy mistakes. He is still young and as the article said you would expect him to have… Read more »
Because Arteta knows /s
I think he’s shown enough potential to see that he’ll be a world class centre back. He seems like the first proper defender we’ve had since Sol.
I never understood why so many on here last season were saying that Mari is better than him. People forget that he’s still young, in a new league/country, and learning a new language. He’s bound to make mistakes, but seems like the type who’ll learn from them, unlike so many others we’ve had recently.
I’m glad he’s back and hope he’s not in and out of the team like last season.
*koshielney
Koscielny was over rated. He had one good season, not because of his tactical awareness, great positioning or anything like that, but because he was quick and was able to recover and make those last ditch tackles. Once his pace went, he was basically average
That’s probably why he was first choice so long for that crap France side.
Still feels like we’d benefit from his presence. Plus he was kind of iconic, in his own way. I miss him.
I never thought Mari was better than him, but it’s easy to forget since Mari has been so dire since the preseason that he was surprisingly solid and steady last season. Nothing spectacular, but he got the job done and I think it was beneficial to have him play more for a while and let Gabriel find himself and his health after being knocked down by Covid.
I think Gabriel is a very good player, still young for a CB, and I’m excited to see him partner with White.
We simply have to win this game, this is Arteta’s most important game of the season so far.
If we lose, it’ll just get reclassified as not-the-REAL-season yet, for reasons which will be found afterwards and applied retroactively.
I miss the non-negotiables.
So we might see a Partey/Lokonga pivot depending on the formation
🤞🏼
Would have been wise to ease Partey in rather than throw him in from the start. But we seem to have a midfield crisis and that may not be possible now.
Hope this doesn’t backfire.
I wonder if Partey starting is the best idea. My heart says yes but head says maybe he’s better off coming on for the second half. Norwich probably try to get at us early on with more energy and dirty tackles. If he comes on second half he might have that bit extra to run them ragged. Of course, that could backfire as we might already be chasing the game.
We’d better not be chasing a game v Norwich!! (I agree with you 100%, just really hoping we’re not chasing the game in the second half.)
A midfield with Lokonga and Partey would add so much pace to our midfield🤞 but is Partey match fit? Let’s also hope that there are no covid cases.
Relegation battle. Meanwhile Spurts are high flying. I mean if we can’t beat this lot….win and the usual gullible fans will think we are the dog’s bollocks. whatever we do, hopefully Arteta settles on a consistent pairing at the back. Half the trouble is he keeps rotating them. Arteta’s tactics are as rigid as his hair. He needs players with better nuance to unlock things. We see the same rubbish at the back with playing around the six yard box. Fortunately I think the keeper has had enough of it and Leno has been launching them long more. But players… Read more »
If he plays well Gabriel can put the left CB position ‘out of reach’ of the other defenders. 😬