Mikel Arteta has tested positive for Covid-19 and will miss Arsenal’s match against Manchester City during his isolation period.

Arsenal confirmed on Wednesday that the team will be missing their head coach for this weekend’s game against Manchester City, following a positive Covid-19 test for Mikel Arteta.

The Arsenal boss is isolating in line with Government guidelines, according to the club. The good news is that his symptoms are mild, and he’s even still planning to do a remote press conference tomorrow.

It’s obviously unclear at this stage just how long he’ll be out, but the League Cup semi-final first leg against Liverpool next Thursday is also seemingly under threat.

Arteta’s most senior assistants are Steve Round and Albert Stuivenberg, and one of them will presumably front up Arsenal’s coaching team in Arteta’s absence.

If we have to guess, Stuivenberg is probably the most likely, as he previously held the manager job at Genk, whilst Round has only worked as an assistant so far in his career.

Arteta has a large team of assistants, with Miguel Molina and Carlos Cuesta also among the group. But the Spanish duo are 28 and 26 respectively, and their inexperience probably precludes them from leading the group for this game.

The idea of a “leadership group” is a popular one for Arteta, so the reality is that the four of them will probably take on the task together.

That’s all provided none of them return positive tests in the coming days. We’ll keep our fingers crossed.