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Arsenal blow: Wenger rules key man out for at least 3 games with ligament damage

By on April 8, 2018

Arsenal have been dealt a blow as Arsene Wenger has ruled out Henrikh Mkhitaryan for our next three games due to a knee injury.

Mkhitaryan limped out of our Europa League quart-final win over CSKA Moscow after sustaining a knee problem midway through the second half.

The Armenian international was replaced by Alex Iwobi in the 61st minute and headed straight down the Emirates tunnel with the medial staff.

Wenger confirmed on Friday that the 29-year-old had suffered ligament damage but he’d been sent to undergo a scan to determine the full extent of the problem.

There were hopes the issue wouldn’t be too serious, however, Wenger has now confirmed the playmaker will miss at least another three games but the boss is confident he’ll play again this season.

Mkhitaryan will now miss the trip to Russia to take on CSKA Moscow in the second leg of our Europa League tie on Thursday while he’ll also sit out league games with Newcastle and West Ham.

Speaking after today’s 3-2 win over Southampton, Wenger told Arsenal.com:

“He’s got knee ligament damage. He will not be available for Thursday and not for Newcastle and certainly not for the week after, when we play West Ham.

“I think he will miss these games for sure, but he could still play at the end of the season.”

Obviously it’s a big blow to lose Miki, especially in the Europa League, but the good news is we hold a healthy lead heading to Russia on Thursday and we have little left to play for in the league.

The focus now should be on making sure Miki recovers in time to make the first leg of any semi-final should we make it through – which would take place after the West Ham game on the 26th April.

Danny Welbeck staked his claim to start in attack against CSKA with a two-goal performance against Southampton today but Alex Iwobi also played well so it will be interesting to see who Wenger goes for.