Arsenal seem to be dealing with another injury concern heading into this weekend’s fixture in the Premier League.
The Gunners were already hit by the absences of Danny Welbeck, Per Mertesacker and Gabriel Paulista after the trio suffered injuries ahead of the new season.
Aaron Ramsey, who sustained a thigh injury on the opening day of the season against Liverpool, has also remained sidelined despite being expected to return after the international break.
And ahead of Saturday’s clash with Hull City, Arsene Wenger has revealed that Theo Walcott, an omission from the squad which faced Paris Saint-Germain, also has a knee injury to recover from.
“He [Walcott] has a knee problem, I think it’s very short term but he’s not completely fit so I left him at home.” the Arsenal manager said.
The 27-year-old, who missed out on a place in England’s Euro 2016 squad, has given up on his desire to play in a central role and is set to make do with a place on the right flank – if he can get it.
Walcott will have to become a more consistent performer, both for Arsenal and England this season, if he is to resurrect a stagnating career. Fitness, though, will be key. He has made a good start to his eleventh season at the Emirates, but the same old frustrations are still far too prevalent in his game.
Should Walcott continue to be sidelined on Saturday, Lucas Perez could be handed another chance to impress his new crowd. However, vice-captain Laurent Koscielny has called for patience with the new signing.
“Let’s give [Lucas] time. We have scored goals since the start of the season, but we bought one more striker because we thought we needed one more let’s give him time and not judge him too quickly.” Koscielny said
Hull City had enjoyed a great start to their English top flight campaign with two straight wins. However, they are now beginning to feel the quality of opponents in the Premier League as they had been winless in their last two outings.
Meanwhile, Arsenal is the exact opposite of Hull as they gained their second straight win after a 2-1 nipping of Southampton at the Emirates Stadium also last Saturday.
An own goal by shot stopper Petr Cech opened the scoring for the Saints at the 18th minute, but it was all the visitors could do in the match as manager Arsene Wenger’s side netted the next two goals to come away with the victory.
French defender Laurent Koscielny scored on the 29th minute to equalise before Spanish midfielder Santi Cazorla netted the winner in stoppage time to hand the Gunners another three points in the overall standings.