Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has confirmed that the club won’t be able to bank on the services of Henrikh Mkhitaryan for Thursday night’s Europa League quarter-final second leg versus CSKA Moscow.
Speaking shortly after the Southampton game, Wenger confirmed that the Armenian has suffered a knee ligament injury, and this is likely to sideline him for the best part of two weeks.
“He’s got knee ligament damage,” he said. “He will not be available for Thursday and not for Newcastle and certainly not for the week after, when we play West Ham. I think he will miss these games for sure, but he could still play at the end of the season.”
With Mkhitaryan injured and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang ineligible, Arsene Wenger has a selection headache on his hands on Thursday, though Welbeck appears the ideal choice with his recent run of form.
The Englishman has bagged braces in two of his previous outings against AC Milan and Southampton, and the fans will hope that he can maintain his good run versus CSKA Moscow at the VEB Arena.
Arsenal hold a comfortable 4-1 lead after the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final, but they cannot take anything for granted especially on the road, where their form has been mediocre.
Tuesday night witnessed AS Roma grab a shock 3-0 Champions League win to oust Barcelona from a similar position, and Wenger’s side need to avoid any complacency by finding an early goal in Moscow to finish off the tie.
Following the CSKA game, Arsenal return to Premier League action on Sunday afternoon where they take on Newcastle United at St James Park.
