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Mikel Arteta has provided mixed news on the injury front ahead of Arsenal’s Champions League last 16 second leg clash against Bayer Leverkusen.
The tie is evenly poised after last week’s reverse fixture when a controversial, late Kai Havertz penalty earned the Gunners a 1-1 draw.
The Bundesliga side were largely written off given their patchy domestic form and with Arsenal boasting a 100% record within the competition this, Arteta’s side were expected to progress without too many complications.
As a substitute, Arsenal struggled to create goalscoring opportunities until Noni Madueke received the advantage of the doubt to earn a late spot kick.
Tomorrow night’s task, meanwhile, has been rendered even trickier following the injury sustained by JurrienTimber in Saturday’s morale-boosting 2-0 win against Everton.
The Netherlands international is out of the second leg, together with skipper Martin Odegaard, and each players will probably be monitored ahead of Sunday’s Carabao Cup final.
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‘With [Jurrien Timber’s injury] it would be a matter of days, so I’m undecided [on his availability],’ said the Arsenal boss in his pre-match press conference.
‘We want everybody available. We all know what [Ben White] gives us. He trained today, so he is sweet.
‘We want everybody’s contribution.’
On the condition of club captain Odegaard, who has missed the last five matches, he added: ‘Yeah. He really desires to be available, but we can have to see in the following few days when he trains, how he feels.
‘The more players we now have, the higher.’
A lot of the post match focus following the dramatic late win over the Toffees has centered on history making 16-year-old Max Dowman.
The precocious teenage forward became the youngest goalscorer in Arsenal’s history shortly after he created the possibility from which Viktor Gyokeres broke the deadlock.
‘A very powerful one is his family, he’s in a superb place there as well,’ said Arteta when asked how Dowman will address the newfound fame and expectancy.
‘He’s used to lots of things, he takes it normally and knows what the game is about.’
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