Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has been given a fresh injury doubt ahead of his side’s upcoming derby game at home to Tottenham, following news that star defender Gabriel Magalhães will now be out for a number of weeks.
The Gunners will be full of confidence as they welcome Spurs to the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, as Arteta’s side look to extend their incredible recent advantage over their fiercest rivals and consolidate their dominance at the top of the Premier League.
Arsenal head into the 198th North London derby in good form despite suffering a late setback against Sunderland that saw their winning streak end at 10. They lead by four points and, as history shows, they are well placed to maintain that advantage.
Arsenal remain unbeaten in all competitions since losing to Liverpool |
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Arsenal 3-0 Nottingham Forest |
Athletic Bilbao 0-2 Arsenal |
Arsenal 1-1 Man City |
Port Vale 0-2 Arsenal |
Newcastle 1-2 Arsenal |
Arsenal 2-0 Olympiacos |
Arsenal 2-0 West Ham |
Fulham 0-1 Arsenal |
Arsenal 4-0 Atletico Madrid |
Arsenal 1-0 Crystal Palace |
Arsenal 2-0 Brighton |
Burnley 0-2 Arsenal |
Slavia Prague 0-3 Arsenal |
Sunderland 2-2 Arsenal |
Arsenal have won five of their last six Premier League games against Spurs, including three in a row, their longest winning streak against Tottenham since the late 1980s (The Analyst).
Home advantage proved decisive in this match. In fact, Arsenal have only lost one of their last 32 Premier League home derbies against Tottenham, with 19 wins and 12 draws, with their only defeat coming in November 2010 (The Analyst).
The Emirates have become a fortress against their arch-rivals, with Arsenal scoring in their last 26 home league games against Spurs and at least two goals in their last eight.
However, Arsenal will have to contend with a number of injury doubts, as they have for most of this season.
Gabriel is reported to be sidelined for at least a month after sustaining a thigh injury against Brazil, with Victor Goqueres, Gabriel Martinelli, Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz, Noni Madueke and Gabriel Jesus also missing in recent days.
Riccardo Calafioli could miss Tottenham as Arsenal are again suspected of injury
In addition to this, star left-back Riccardo Calafioli, who has been one of Arsenal’s best players of the season so far, according to Ray Parlor, suffered a hip problem during his stint with the Italy national team.
Arteta’s latest update was actually a rather surprising development, as after this week’s checks, Fabrizio Romano said Calafioli was not injured and was just “overloaded” and ready to play.
In his pre-match press conference, via football.london, Arteta said he would have to wait and see if Calafioli would be available for the game against Spurs in his absence and would have to wait until another training session on Saturday.
“Yeah, he wasn’t available,” Arteta said.
“He had some things going on so we had to bring him back. He hasn’t trained yet. He has a session tomorrow so we’ll see.”
With Gabriel already ruled out, losing Calafioli would deprive Arsenal of two of their most versatile defensive options at once.
Miles Lewis-Skelly is poised to return if the former Bologna star is ruled out, with either Cristian Mosquera or Piero Hincapie replacing Gabriel at left-back. Calafioli has been in exceptional form this term, and one of Hale End’s recent stars, Lewis Skelly, has gone largely unnoticed despite his impressive 24/25.
The 23-year-old will be a painful absence for Arteta, who faces a practical selection headache ahead of one of Arsenal’s biggest games of the year.
