Arsenal’s Injury Crisis Worsen Ahead Of Champions League Clash

Arsenal’s injury crisis has deepened ahead of the champions league match against Anderlect on Wednesday. The club has faced serious injury issues since the season started with several players succumbing to injuries like a falling pack of cards. Before the international break, the club was without five players that have featured in different matches this season in Mikel Arteta, Aaron Ramsey, Oliver Giroud, Yaya Sanogo and Mathieu Debuchy. However, that number has since gone up with Tomas Rosicky, Laurent Koscielny, Mesut Ozil and possibly Wilshere the latest to join the long list of players currently sidelined. Although Wenger dismissed the suggestion that Wilshere may miss Wednesday’s clash, it is still a possibility that the Englishman may spend some time on the sideline if you consider how bad Arsenal medical team seem to be when it comes to diagnosing injuries.

The situation of Laurent Koscielny highlights the club’s dearth of numbers in defence as the French international has continually been played despite struggling with an Achilles injury that has plagued him since the month of March. Arsene Wenger claims that he does not need surgery, but needs rest, however the rest he needs has not been forthcoming because of the lack of experience options in central defence.

As a result, Arsenal had to field a makeshift backline in the match against Hull City, as Laurent Koscielny was ruled out by the manager on precautionary ground, and Calum Chambers was suspended after accumulating five yellows in the league. The options available to Arsene Wenger in defence going into the match against Steve Bruce’s Hull City was Hector Bellerin, Per Mertesacker, Nacho Monreal, Kieran Gibbs and Isaac Hayden.

The manager would have to make a decision of whether to go with the pairing of Per Mertesacker and Nacho Monreal in defence again on Wednesday, a partnership that struggled against the pace of the Hull City attackers. Or Isaac Hayden could be brought into the side to make a rare appearance in the champions league.

The injuries and suspension that had ruled out three of Arsenal’s defenders going into the match against Hull City with two central defenders amongst them in Laurent Koscielny and Calum Chambers thereby reducing the club’s number of defenders from six to three, once again calls into the question Arsene Wenger’s refusal to sign a another defender during the summer transfer window.

As the injuries continue to rack up, the attacking side of the squad has enough options to cope in the absence of Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey, Tomas Rosicky and Oliver Giroud. However the same cannot be said of the defence which has Laurent Koscielny, Calum Chambers and Mathieu Debuchy out for Saturday.