Arsenal injury news for West Ham after Arteta updates on Gabriel scare and Saka

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has provided an update on Gabriel Magalhaes after the defender was forced off during the 2-0 Champions League win over Olympiacos on Wednesday night

Mikel Arteta was forced to give injury updates on three Arsenal stars following their 2-0 Champions League triumph over Olympiacos. Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka both found the net as the Gunners maintained their perfect European record alongside five other sides.

The sole concern from the continental encounter centred around Gabriel Magalhaes after he was withdrawn following treatment from medical staff.

“I think he’s going to be okay,” the Arsenal boss admitted. “He felt something, I think it was a kick, I’m not sure, in the first half, and he was a bit uncomfortable, and towards the second half he was there.

“He could carry on, but we decided not to take any, really, because he’s played a lot of games, he comes from a long-term injury as well, and we need to look after him.”

There are hopes he’ll be available against West Ham United at the weekend, though Arteta remains comfortable deploying Cristhian Mosquera if required, as shown by his choice to rest William Saliba for several matches.

Meanwhile, Piero Hincapie continues to struggle with a groin problem and is anticipated to stay sidelined beyond the October international fixtures. Noni Madueke has been absent for the previous three outings, with Arteta’s most recent assessment indicating he might not return until after the November international period.

“He hasn’t had a [second] scan yet so he needs to wait a little bit more still with the brace and everything,” he admitted at a press conference on Tuesday. “So he’s still in a stage where everything is super protective and once he comes out of that and has the scan we’ll have more clarity about it.”

Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus, who both underwent surgery for different knee issues, are continuing their recoveries at London Colney.

Following a spate of injuries to key players last season, Arteta has chosen to rest some of his star names more often. This approach saw Saka and Declan Rice only play 17 and 32 minutes respectively in the most recent match.

When questioned about preserving these two players given the depth of his squad, Arteta responded: “Yes, especially with Bukayo because he comes from a long-term injury. He played 45, 60, 70 minutes in a really short period, and today it was more risky. So we decided to keep him.

“And with Declan, because he had some incredible outputs three days ago. He’s played so many games. He’s going to have to play so many games as well. And it’s great to have someone like Mikel [Merino] come in and perform really well. We need a different profile, like him, on the pitch.”

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