Nacho Monreal could be available for the Boxing Day game against Brighton despite being subbed off against Burnley on Saturday.

Arsenal have been struggling with defensive problems for a few weeks and Nacho’s return had helped alleviate some of the pressure on the side. So, it was concerning when he had to be taken off after 37 minutes, replaced by Stephan Lichtsteiner.

Speaking to the media after the game, Emery said, “It’s starting to be a muscular problem and we decided to change and not take more risks with him. But I hope it’s not big and I hope he can be with us next week.

“I don’t know if he can play in Brighton, but we can play, I think, Koscielny. Mustafi is close also for coming with us. We can take more injuries but we can also recover more players.”

Arsenal’s injured list currently looks like this:

• Shkodran Mustafi (hamstring) possible back for Brighton (although he’s been ‘possibly back’ since his suspension)
• Hector Bellerin (calf) back in training
• Danny Welbeck (ankle) still no return date and he’s out of contract in the summer so he may never be back
• Rob Holding (knee) out for the season
• Dinos Mavropanos (groin) back in training and might be available before the end of the year