You would think that Tuesday night showed us just how much squad depth there is to this Arsenal side, but our midfield will have to hold out a little longer.
That’s because Aaron Ramsey has been placed on the sidelines until after the international break in October, meaning he’ll miss the Basel and Burnley games.
Whilst the Gunners have managed without their Welshman since his opening day injury, having Ramsey in this side gives us so much more to offer, both on and off the bench.
Wenger was able to play an entirely new squad during the 4-0 EFL Cup win against Nottingham Forest, but now he must wait for Ramsey to get back to full fitness.
Star of the Euro’s, Ramsey’s fitness was questioned when he started in the game against Liverpool back in August, and now it looks as if Arsenal are paying the price for including him.
Chris Coleman gave Wenger a ticking off earlier this month after Ramsey was ruled out of his countries World Cup qualifier, and will now be a doubt for Wales’ next round of fixtures.
The news isn’t all bad because we have options across the midfield, with Xhaka, Elneny and Coquelin all fighting it out for that CDM position next to Cazorla.
Ramsey wasn’t the only one to feature in Wenger’s team news update:
Aaron Ramsey
As we’ve mentioned above, Ramsey’s injury won’t be rushed and we’ve had to sit through two setbacks now, but it isn’t the end of the world.
Wenger has fully fit players battling for their place and so he’s got more than enough cover in the midfield region, and we want full confidence in Ramsey when he does return.
For him personally, the home tie vs. Swansea on October 15th will be the new aim.
Olivier Giroud
Giroud will have a last-minute test before the Chelsea game to establish whether or not his toe has recovered from a minor injury picked up in training earlier this month.
Again, without risking the forward we’ll likely see Alexis start in his place but according to Jeorge Bird the Frenchman took part in a full training session on Friday afternoon.
Arsenal continue with their Champions League preparations next Wednesday and Giroud will want his starting position back, he’s got to start stepping up now.
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