A fresh insight into the extent of the personnel crisis at Premier League giants Arsenal has been provided late on Thursday evening.
Xhaka adds to woes
The Gunners are locked in action at present, in the rescheduled first-leg of the club’s Carabao Cup semi-final showdown with Liverpool.
And, to their credit, Mikel Arteta’s men have thus far managed to keep themselves firmly in proceedings.
The scoreline remains locked at 0-0, despite an early Granit Xhaka red card and Cedric Soares injury having added to what is quickly developing into a full-blown crisis on the red half of north London.
RED CARD! ?
Arsenal’s Granit Xhaka is sent off after a reckless last man challenge on Liverpool’s Diogo Jota pic.twitter.com/n71xpYPzRW
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) January 13, 2022
Arthur a necessity?
And now, as alluded to above, a fresh insight has been provided, highlighting just how serious the squad problems facing Mikel Arteta have become.
The info comes courtesy of Simon Collings of the Evening Standard, who has revealed that, owing to Xhaka’s impending suspension, and the enforced departure of Cedric at Anfield, Arsenal, as things stand, look set to have just 12 senior outfield players fit and available to feature in this weekend’s North London Derby.
This dozen comes in the form of:
Kieran Tierney, Ben White, Gabriel Magalhaes, Rob Holding, Nuno Tavares, Pablo Mari, Calum Chambers, Sambi Lokonga, Bukayo Saka, Alexandre Lacazette, Gabriel Martinelli and Eddie Nketiah.
All others, at present, are unavailable owing to either injury, illness, suspension or participation at the African Cup of Nations.
Going off the first-team list on club website, I make it Arsenal now have 12 available outfield players for Sunday against Tottenham. 13 if you add Patino.
This assumes Cedric is now injured.https://t.co/4Z3WK98tEi
— Simon Collings (@sr_collings) January 13, 2022
Such woes, in turn, will no doubt kick the transfer team at the Emirates firmly into gear on Thursday night.
And now, an additional insight into precisely when one major target on the part of the Gunners – in the form of Arthur Melo – would need to be brought in by to be granted permission to feature against Tottenham, has been provided.
As per the reliable Chris Wheatley, Juventus midfielder Arthur would need to have his registration rights secured by midday on Friday to be eligible for the NLD:
Arsenal have accelerated talks to sign Arthur Melo on loan in the past few hours.
He’ll have to be registered by midday tomorrow in order to be involved against Tottenham on Sunday.https://t.co/bwS9EeCpCe
— Chris Wheatley (@ChrisWheatley_) January 13, 2022
Liverpool vs Arsenal live streaming: Watch Carabao Cup semi-final first leg online
Arsenal starlet Gabriel Martinelli beats out competition to bag Premier League award