Arsenal head coach Arsene Wenger has revealed concern about the injury sustained by Shkodran Mustafi during Sunday’s 3-0 Premier League win over Watford.
The German international has received plenty of stick for his average performances of late, and he came up with a strong showing against the Hornets which included an 8th-minute opener from a Mesut Ozil set-piece.
Mustafi took the responsibility of restricting Hornets skipper Troy Deeney on his stride for more than an hour, but as the game went on, the German happened to struggle from a groin issue, which saw him substituted with 17 minutes on the clock.
In his place, Calum Chambers came onto the field, and the Englishman continued from where he left off against Milan, where he was solid with his movement in the right-back position.
Speaking after the game, Wenger was asked about the situations of both Ozil and Mustafi, where he hinted that the latter could be doubtful for the upcoming game with a groin problem, he said:
“It [Ozil] looks alright.
“We have one problem and that’s Mustafi, who had to come off. It’s a groin problem. We don’t know how bad. They told me they have to check tomorrow.”
Should Mustafi be sidelined, Calum Chambers is probably the preferred pick to start in the central defensive position alongside Laurent Koscielny, who was rested entirely for the weekend.
With the Hornets win, the Gunners managed to end a three-match losing streak in the Premier League, and this would no doubt increase the confidence among the players following a 2-0 Europa League triumph prior to that.
Arsenal’s last outing, before the international break, is in the Europa League round of 16 second-leg versus AC Milan, and the team should be confident of progressing through the competition on Thursday night after bagging a couple of invaluable away goals at San Siro.
