Granit Xhaka has been ruled out of Sunderland’s trip to Arsenal with an injury, missing his first opportunity to play a competitive fixture against the Gunners at the Emirates Stadium.
Former Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka has been a vital cog in the Sunderland machine this season, starting their first 22 matches of the Premier League campaign before suffering an ankle injury that ruled him out against West Ham United last weekend.
Further assessments on the injury have revealed some bad news, with Xhaka expected to spend much of the next month on the sidelines.
Sunderland manager Regis Le Bris was mostly positive as he gave his injury update ahead of this weekend, but he confirmed it will probably be another three weeks before the Swiss international is playing again.
“He’s doing well,” Le Bris said. “He will have another assessment in around one week and from that point we’ll see where he is to define the next stage of his rehabilitation. So it should take probably three more weeks.
“I think we can’t replace Granit so, we have to build a new set-up, a new leadership as well. It takes time but, at the same time, Granit wants to create the conditions for new leaders so it’s a good period for that.
“We might struggle a bit, which is normal in the Premier League.”
Three weeks out would mean Xhaka missing at least four matches in all competitions, but most relevantly to Arsenal fans it definitely rules him out of next Saturday’s fixture at the Emirates Stadium.
Xhaka put in a battling performance against his old club in November’s draw at the Stadium of Light, so his absence could be damaging as Sunderland look to pick up another result in the reverse fixture.
Sunderland are also expected to be without Arthur Masuaku, Jocelin Ta Bi, and Bertrand Traore for the match.