Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has confirmed that first-team trio Alex Iwobi, Danny Welbeck and Mesut Ozil could miss the FA Cup quarter-final clash versus Lincoln City due to illness.
The Gunners were without the services of both Iwobi and Welbeck in midweek with the latter having to come off in the warmup prior to the Bayern Munich game as he was feeling sick.
Things only turned worse for the Gunners on the night after they were once again trumped by Bayern by a 5-1 scoreline in the Champions League, last 16 with Ozil playing a minor role from the substitutes’ bench.
Prior to the game against fifth-tier Lincoln, Wenger confirmed both Welbeck and Iwobi could miss the Cup clash as they have yet to recover from the sickness bug.
He said: “I believe that we have two uncertainties [for Lincoln]. Welbeck, who had to come off after the warm-up against Bayern due to sickness, and Iwobi, who on the day of the game could not turn up because of the same problem. Everyone else is available.”
Meanwhile, the Frenchman added that Ozil is also not in the best condition after having fallen sick with the same flu-like symptoms which kept him out of the 3-1 league defeat to Liverpool last weekend.
He added: “I haven’t decided, he still felt not too well after game. I will see in training how he feels, I haven’t decided about the team who will start on Saturday.”
Wenger has received immense criticism from the fans over recent results in both League and Europe, and he could be expected to place his best team forward to achieve a victory over Lincoln on Saturday.
The 67-year-old is also understood to have changed his training regime ahead of this weekend’s game as he bids to prove he is worthy of a fresh two-year contract at the Emirates.
