Dani Ceballos missed Arsenal’s 3-0 win over Newcastle United on Monday with a calf injury, the third Arsenal player to suffer one this month.

Dani Ceballos was a surprise absentee from the Arsenal squad on Monday night, with various reports revealing he was missing the match with a ‘tight calf’. There’s no word yet on exactly how long he’ll be out.

Kieran Tierney required a scan on a calf strain last week, which fortunately was only enough to rule him out of one game. Meanwhile, Pablo Mari is out for ‘a few matches’ with a calf strain of his own.

Dr. Rajpal Brar writes on Twitter that calf tightness isn’t unexpected at this stage of the season. The muscles take on constant stress and fatigue, and we haven’t had too many breaks in the schedule so far this campaign.

Hopefully, Ceballos’ problem turns out more like Tierney’s, and he only misses a game or two. But it sounds like this is all just a natural consequence of the pressures we’re putting players under in this condensed season.