Mikel Arteta revealed fresh concern after Gabriel Magalh\u00e3es was withdrawn during Saturday\u2019s shock FA Cup defeat with a suspected thigh injury. The full extent of the problem will be known only after further assessment, but the immediate picture is worrying for Arsenal at a delicate point in the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to have to assess him. But, obviously, when a player is asking to be substituted, it\u2019s never good news.\u201d<\/p>\n
The club will learn more about Gabriel\u2019s condition in the coming days, and any absence would be a significant setback. Arsenal have already endured recent cup disappointments, having been knocked out of the FA Cup and losing the Carabao Cup final last month. Despite those results, two major targets remain: a Premier League title for the first time in 22 years and a maiden Champions League crown.<\/p>\n
The timing of the potential injury echoes a previous late-season blow. William Saliba was lost to injury in the final stretch of 2022\u201323, a factor in the team\u2019s late collapse and the Premier League title going to Manchester City.<\/p>\n
Gabriel\u2019s involvement in Tuesday\u2019s Champions League quarterfinal first leg against Sporting CP is uncertain until Arteta has more information, likely the day before the game. The manager noted there is still confidence within the squad for the Sporting tie, but missing one of their best centre backs against higher-calibre opposition would be a concern.<\/p>\n
Arsenal\u2019s route in Europe has avoided Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid until the final, leaving Sporting as the weakest team remaining in the competition. If the Gunners progress, Barcelona or Atl\u00e9tico Madrid await in the semifinal.<\/p>\n
Cristhian Mosquera is the likely stand-in while Gabriel is unavailable. Mosquera started against Southampton with Saliba initially rested, and Gabriel\u2019s withdrawal during the FA Cup fixture saw Saliba introduced from the bench for the final 20 minutes.<\/p>\n
Arteta denied that the pressure of chasing an unprecedented Quadruple had any impact on losing two of those trophies within the space of a few weeks. The focus now is on assessment and availability as Arsenal prepare for a crucial period in the campaign.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Arteta concerned as Gabriel’s suspected thigh injury leaves availability for Sporting still in doubt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10845,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[192,1303],"tags":[1066,1393,1047],"class_list":["post-10846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal","category-arsenal-news","tag-carabao-cup","tag-centre-back","tag-champions-league"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10846\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}