Ben White appears to be struggling with a groin injury, but Arsenal will be hoping the problem is simply tightness rather than a strain.
Ben White was forced off during Arsenal’s Premier League match away to Sunderland on Saturday night, with Jurrien Timber returning to the squad just in time to take the England international’s place for the second half.
Serhan Segitmen of Physio Scout reports that White’s issue appears to be a groin/adductor problem, with the player seen clutching that area after chasing back late in the first half.
Segitmen suggests that if the problem is just muscle tightness or minor irritation, White could return in less than a week. But if it’s an adductor strain, the player could face one-to-three weeks on the sidelines.
The only other available information at the moment is that White was struggling with an injury issue even prior to the Sunderland match.
The player was seen limping away from Arsenal’s game against Napoli in midweek, with Mikel Arteta saying “he’s fine” in his pre-Sunderland press conference.
In some ways, that’s a positive sign, as it suggests this may not be a new problem, and that it’s one White has already shown himself to be capable of playing through. On the other hand, there will be concern that the defender has made the injury worse by carrying on.
Further assessment will be required to determine the extent of the issue, with Arsenal set to return to action on Tuesday. The Gunners will face Ipswich Town in the League Cup, and White will now be a serious doubt to feature in that game.
The problem is that Timber is just recently back to fitness, so he’s probably not ready to start playing every minute. Arsenal may need to be creative with their right-back selection for the cup game.
Unfortunately, there will be no update on White from Arteta prior to the game, as he isn’t holding a pre-match press conference.
There will be some quotes released on Monday night, but these were taken during his post-Sunderland press conference and embargoed, prior to any possible assessment of White’s fitness.
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