Friday, March 29, 2024

Watford vs. Arsenal: Injury Update, Wenger’s Comments & Likely Line-Up

Right, that’s it, qualifying for the World Cup is done and dusted and we can all get back to watching Arsenal three times a week between now and Christmas!

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Arsene Wenger’s men haven’t lost a single game in any competition since the 4-0 thrashing against Liverpool on August 27th and that confidence will be key on Saturday afternoon.

Despite the excitement of last-ditch qualifying for a spot in Russia, the international break has thrown up plenty of injury concerns, with several key members not 100%.

And although an away trip to Watford may seem straightforward on paper, Marco Silva’s side have surprised plenty of us following their promising start to the campaign.

Here’s all of the latest on the squad:

Team News

The big and bad news from Wenger’s update is that Shkodran Mustafi now faces six weeks on the sidelines after picking up a nasty thigh injury whilst playing for Germany.

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Mesut Ozil and Danny Welbeck have both been involved in training this week and are available for selection after recovering from knee and groin knocks respectively.

Sead Kolasinac was substituted at half-time whilst on duty for Bosnia, but recent reports have suggested it was purely tactical and he’ll face an assessment at London Colney on Friday.

Alexis Sanchez could be rushed back into action after crashing out of the World Cup this week. Wenger says he’ll have a think about his involvement during training tomorrow.

Laurent Koscielny will take part in a fitness test just 24 hours before Saturday’s game, but has trained alone all week and Wenger believes the initial signs are all positive.

There was no update on Francis Coquelin or Calum Chambers, but the latter has recently signed a new two-year contract extension so could be an option to cover Mustafi’s absence.

Arsenal Absentees: Chambers (hip), Coquelin (hamstring), Cazorla (calf), Mustafi (thigh), Kolasinac (doubt), Alexis (doubt), Koscielny (doubt)

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Likely Line-Up

Goalkeeper: Petr Cech

Defence: Rob Holding, Laurent Koscielny, Nacho Monreal

Midfield: Hector Bellerin, Aaron Ramsey, Granit Xhaka, Sead Kolasinac

Forwards: Alex Iwobi, Alexis Sanchez

Striker: Alex Lacazette

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