Wenger hit by injury crisis Arsene Wenger
Arsene Wenger

Arsene Wenger

LONDON. – Arsene Wenger admits he is facing an injury crisis as Arsenal go into three games which could decide their season. Wenger could be without FIVE first teamers as they face Chelsea tonight in the English Premiership, Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup on Sunday and then play Chelsea again in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday next week.

Sead Kolasinac is out for two weeks with an ankle injury, Laurent Koscielny is a doubt with an Achilles issue and Mesut Ozil will have a late fitness test for tonight’s match against Chelsea.

The match kicks-off at 9:45pm.

Nacho Monreal, Olivier Giroud and Aaron Ramsey are all definitely out as the problems mount for Wenger.

Gunners boss Wenger said: “At the moment our injury list is quite long, because we lost Kolasinac in the game and Koscielny. We had already Monreal, Giroud, Ramsey, Ozil (out).

“Who will be available tomorrow? The two who have a little chance are Ozil, who might have a test this morning – but he hasn’t been out at all since Crystal Palace, so I don’t know. (With) Koscielny, yesterday the medical staff were pessimistic about him.

“Kolasinac is out completely for at least two weeks. Koscielny is 30 per cent available, 70 percent not. Basically we dedicate our time to recovery, to work a little bit today to prepare for tomorrow’s game. It’s basically 80 percent recovery and 20 percent training. We have a squad that is equipped to deal with that, as we have shown in the Europa League, in the League Cup. We have a big squad but we cannot lose any more players now, because we are a bit short.” Wenger admits they cannot afford to lose more points in the battle for top four and admits they are now under “big pressure.”

Wenger said: “The gap is not big at the moment. We know that our home form will be absolutely vital and we just come home from West from being frustrated because we lost two points, which was really frustrating. We know it puts us under even more pressure to deliver a big result tomorrow (tonight).

“We’ve played Chelsea many times and the results were always tight, apart from at home last year, we beat them 3-0.

“We’ve played them many times and they were always big battles. Chelsea are coming back into good form. They’ve been consistent recently so it’s a good and a big challenge for us tomorrow (tonight).”

Wenger has denied reports Arsenal will make bids for Chelsea defender David Luiz and Monaco’s Thomas Lemar in January. National newspaper reports had claimed Wenger was ready to move for out-of-favour Luiz, while the club have also been linked with a returning offer for France midfielder Lemar – who turned down a £92m move to Arsenal last summer. “I don’t want to speak about any special name but these reports are wrong,” said Gunners boss Wenger, whose side face Chelsea tonight.

Wenger also confirmed the club have had no offers for Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil or Jack Wilshere in the current transfer window.

All three players will be out of contract this summer unless they agree new terms at the Emirates. “We have not been contacted by anybody,” said Wenger, when asked if there have been offers for any of them.

Asked how Arsenal would cope with losing the key trio, Wenger said: “First of all we have not lost them yet, and secondly we will respond to that by bringing in players of top quality.”

Wenger added: “This club has lost many big players and has always responded well. Massive players have left this club and the club will always be in a strong position on that front. But you want to keep your best players, yes.”

Arsenal are looking to make January signings of their own, according to Wenger, but said any offers they make could be reliant on whether or not players extend their current contracts. – Sky Sports.

 

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