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Arsene Wenger: 3 key Arsenal players could miss Sunderland game

By on October 28, 2016

santi cazorla

Arsene Wenger has confirmed that Arsenal could be without three key first team players for our trip to face Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Saturday lunchtime.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference this morning, the boss gave his team news update and revealed that Theo Walcott, Santi Cazorla and Nacho Monreal are all facing late fitness tests.

Cazorla has missed our last two games against Middlesbrough and Reading after suffering an achilles injury during the Champions League win over Ludogorets last week and the Spaniard is now a doubt to take on Sunderland.

Walcott was rested for the League Cup win in midweek but is seems he may have missed the game anyway as the boss has confirmed that the in-form winger is nursing a minor hamstring problem.

The good news is that if Walcott is ruled out of tomorrow’s trip to the north east, he should be available to take on Ludogorets in the Champions League on Tuesday night.

Monreal also sat out the EFL Cup win over Reading and the Spaniard is suffering from a tight muscle so he’ll also face a late test to see if he’ll be available for the Sunderland game.

It would be a huge blow if all three were ruled out and although all the injuries appear to be minor issues, our squad would still be stretched for a vital Premier League game as we’ve got several other players already missing.

Granit Xhaka is still suspended, Per Mertesacker, Danny Welbeck and Chuba Akpom remain out with long-term injuries while Lucas Perez has been ruled out for up to eight weeks with an ankle injury.

Olivier Giroud and Aaron Ramsey are back in the squad tomorrow but neither are likely to start as they aren’t fully match fit yet so the squad will be stretched if Cazorla, Walcott and Monreal are ruled out.