Mikel Arteta has ruled Ben White out of Arsenal’s match against Manchester City on Sunday, with David Raya also a doubt for the game at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal have a few long-term injury absentees at the moment, and none of them are set to return in time for this weekend’s match against Manchester City.
Gabriel Jesus is out for the season, whilst Bukayo Saka isn’t expected back until March at the earliest. Takehiro Tomiyasu is yet to rejoin full training, and Mikel Arteta confirmed on Friday that Ben White is also not ready yet.
“Ben is definitely out, hasn’t trained with us yet so is not going to be available,” Arteta said.
The only other doubt is David Raya, who travelled to Spain in midweek but missed out on Arsenal’s squad to face Girona. Arteta was less sure on Raya’s situation for Manchester City, suggesting it could still go either way.
“We are still a bit uncertain,” Arteta admitted. “We have another session tomorrow and another 48 hours, so we have to wait and see.
“It’s a muscular issue, so we have to wait and see.”
The fact that Raya was with the squad in Girona is a positive sign. It’s unlikely he picked up the injury after his arrival in Spain, given Arsenal had already called up a fourth goalkeeper to join the squad on the trip.
The club must have already known about the problem before they left, yet Raya was clearly not deemed a travel risk.
That doesn’t necessarily mean the goalkeeper will be fit on Sunday, though. We’ve seen “minor” problems keep Arsenal players out of important games all season, and this is just the latest making Arteta sweat.