Wenger Confirms Arsenal Injury Blow

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has confirmed that Luarent Koscielny has a hamstring problem and will miss Sunday’s crunch clash against Manchester United.

The influential centre-back Laurent is expected to be out for several weeks after suffering a hamstring strain in the Gunners’ 3-2 loss to Olympiakos in the Champions League on Tuesday evening.

The French centre-half made a sliding tackle in the second half of the encounter and immediately rubbed the back of his leg, as per the Express.

Koscielny joined Arsenal from Lorient in 2010 and has made 213 appearances under Arsene Wenger at the Emirates.

The north Londoners were looking to bounce back from their Champions League opening day defeat to Dinamo Zagreb, when they tackled Olympiakos but they ended the game with another defeat too, with Per Mertesacker coming off the bench to replace Koscielny in the match.

And the lacklustre defending from Mertesacker led to the Greek side’s third goal not so long after Arsenal’s second and equalizing goal.

Now it appears, after undergoing some tests, Koscielny is expected to be out of action for some weeks, meaning the France international will miss the Manchester United game thereby allowing Mertesacker and Gabriel Paulista to likely feature as centre-back partners for Arsenal on Sunday.

The news of Koscielny’s injury is a major blow for under-pressure Arsene Wenger with the 30-year old defender now joining Arsenal’s lengthening injury list featuring the likes of Jack Wilshere, Tomas Rosicky, Danny Welbeck, Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini all out with injuries.

Koscielny – Arsenal’s best defender – will surely be missed when the Gunners tackle Louis van Gaal’s men at the Emirates stadium on Sunday.