Gabriel Magalhaes remains a doubt for Arsenal’s Premier League clash with West Ham after feeling discomfort late on in midweek, Mikel Arteta confirmed.
Gabriel scored Arsenal’s third as they claimed a confidence-boosting 5-1 away win against Sporting Lisbon on the champions League on Tuesday.
However, there was late concern for the defender who had to leave the field in the closing stages and was replaced by Jakob Kiwior.
After the game, Arteta said the Brazillian had felt some ‘discomfort’ prior to his substitution and the 26-year-old still remains a doubt for the visit to West Ham on the weekend.
‘We will wait and see,’ said Arteta at his pre-match press conference on Friday morning when asked about Gabriel’s fitness for Saturday’s fixture.
Pressed on any further injury news about his squad, the Spaniard added: ‘Not a lot because we have another training session. We have to see how the boys are today.
‘A few of them weren’t able to train yesterday but hopefully they will be able to today.’
Jurrien Timber could slot in at centre-back to replace Gabriel, while Riccardo Calafiori is also an option having started the last two games after his own spell on the sidelines.
Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu remained unavailable with respective knee issues.
A win against West Ham would see the Gunners close the gap to Liverpool to six points ahead of their crunch fixture with Manchester City on Sunday.
Arteta’s side have picked up back-to-back wins for the first time since early October and the 42-year-old is hopeful that his team can build on the confidence heading into the hectic Christmas schedule.
‘Winning lifts the energy and the confidence up,’ he said.
‘They were two big wins for us and now it’s about consistency and getting that momentum and taking it even further against a really good opponent tomorrow.
‘It doesn’t matter what you did yesterday, it’s about the next day and the next performance and how you are able to sustain high levels of performance because of how competitive every opponent is and that is what we will try and do tomorrow.’
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