November 19th 2024.
The upcoming Premier League game between Arsenal and Nottingham Forest is causing some concern for the Gunners as they face more injury troubles. Mikel Arteta was relieved to have Martin Odegaard back in the squad after a three-month absence due to an ankle injury, but now there are fresh problems for the manager to deal with.
Defender Ben White is expected to be out for a while after undergoing a minor knee surgery. He has been playing through the pain for the past few weeks, but the club decided that the international break was the right time for him to have the surgery. There is no confirmed timeline for his return, but there is speculation that he could be out for eight weeks.
Arteta must be feeling frustrated as he has seen several of his players pick up injuries while on international duty. Just last week, Leandro Trossard suffered a knock while playing for Belgium against Israel. He will be assessed by the medical team back in London and Arteta is expected to give a full update on his squad's injuries on Friday.
Another player who has been struggling with injuries is Declan Rice. He suffered a broken toe before the Champions League game against Inter Milan but was able to make a comeback against Chelsea a few days later. However, both he and Bukayo Saka had to come off during that game, with Arteta later admitting that the injuries "didn't look good."
Saka and Rice were both absent from the international break as they focused on recovering from their knocks. It remains to be seen how severe their injuries are and if they will be available for the upcoming game against Nottingham Forest. Meanwhile, Riccardo Calafiori is also working on his recovery from a knee injury sustained last month, and Arteta is hopeful that he will be available for selection this weekend.
Unfortunately, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney are still sidelined with knee problems, which means they will not be able to feature in the game against Nottingham Forest. As for the predicted starting lineup, it is expected to include players like Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori, Odegaard, Partey, Rice, Saka, Havertz, and Martinelli.
For those wondering where to watch the match, it kicks off at 3pm on Saturday, November 23. However, it will not be available to watch live in the UK due to its 3pm slot. But fear not, as you can follow all the action on Metro's live matchday blog.
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