Ben White and Cristhian Mosquera were not pictured in training with Arsenal on Monday, with various youth players involved and in line to step up.
Arsenal held a training session on Monday ahead of their League Cup opener away to Ipswich Town the following day, and pictures from the session showed no sign of Ben White or Cristhian Mosquera.
Mosquera has been out of action for a while now, but Mikel Arteta had suggested ahead of the Sunderland game that it was possible the defender would return in “this game or the next one”. Yet with no sign of the player in training, it seems likely he’s now set to miss both matches.
As for White, the player was struggling with a groin issue during the Sunderland game, forced off at half-time. The fact he’s now missing training doesn’t bode well for his participation against Ipswich, though the club may just have decided to rest him for a session.
If White and Mosquera are both unavailable, Arteta may look to call up a younger player to allow Ezri Konsa or Jurrien Timber to rest. Timber is only just back from his own injury issue, so Arsenal won’t want to push him too hard too soon.
On that note, youth defenders Marli Salmon and Jaden Dixon were both pictured in training with the Arsenal senior side on Monday.
That’s particularly significant because the u21s have a game on Tuesday, so Salmon or Dixon normally would have been involved in the u21 session if they were expecting to feature in the match.
Arteta has called on both Salmon and Dixon in senior cup fixtures before, so he’d probably be willing to do so again on Tuesday night. Salmon played a role in pre-season, and Dixon may have as well if not for injury.
In other positions, Arsenal also called up young striker Andre Harriman-Annous, winger James Scanlon, and midfielders Demiane Agustien and Max Dowman for first-team training on Monday.
Scanlon was a summer signing from Manchester United, and the expectation was that he would primarily feature for the u21s this season. But with two goals in his first two appearances, he’s picked a good time to show form ahead of Arsenal’s League Cup opener.
How many of these players ultimately make the senior squad on Tuesday night remains to be seen. But Arteta definitely has some options if he wants to leave a few first-choice stars to rest at home.
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