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Arsenal team news: Update on Koscielny, Monreal, AMN, Welbeck & more ahead of Chelsea

By on August 16, 2018

Ainsley.Maitland.Niles_arsenal

Arsenal’s difficult start to the new season continues as we travel to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea on Saturday evening and we’ve been hit by a double injury blow ahead of the game.

The club confirmed in a team news update on Arsenal.com today that Ainsley Maitland-Niles has been ruled out for 6-8 weeks after fracturing his fibula against Manchester City.

Maitland-Niles started at left-back during that defeat but limped off midway through the first half following a clash with Kyle Walker and now the 20-year-old is facing a spell on the sidelines.

The youngster was only playing because Sead Kolasinac has also been ruled out for around two months with a knee injury that he suffered in pre-season and the Bosnian isn’t expected back in training until October.

The club have also revealed that Carl Jenkinson is expected to be out for 6-8 weeks with a serious ankle sprain. Obviously Jenks isn’t a first team regular but with so many other full-backs unavailable, it’s a blow to lose another option in defence.

It means we’ve lost 3 players to serious injuries that are expected to keep them out for around two months and we’ve only played one game so far this season. Hardly the ideal start to Unai Emery’s tenure.

The new boss was already without Laurent Koscielny for the foreseeable future when he took over as the Frenchman isn’t expected to return to training until November following Achilles surgery in May.

However, there is some positive news as Nacho Monreal returned to full training earlier this week after recovering from a knee problem and should be in contention to return to the squad against Chelsea this Saturday.

Danny Welbeck is also in full training as he looks to rebuild his fitness after arriving back late to pre-season following his exploits at the World Cup with England this summer – but a place on the bench is the best he can hope for.

The update on Arsenal.com said:

Ainsley Maitland-Niles
Ainsley has sustained a small fracture to his left fibula and will be out for six to eight weeks.

Carl Jenkinson
Carl has sustained a significant sprain to his right ankle and will be out for six to eight weeks.

Sead Kolasinac
Sead has a left knee injury. We are aiming for him to return to training in October.

Laurent Koscielny
Right Achilles tendon repair. We are aiming for Laurent to return to training in November.

Nacho Monreal and Danny Welbeck
Both players are in full training.

It’s a huge boost to have Monreal back and hopefully he’s deemed fit enough to start otherwise Stephan Lichstseiner may have to be deployed at left-back this weekend.