Gabriel Magalhaes was substituted off against West Ham United on Saturday evening as a result of a reoccurrence of the injury issue he suffered against Sporting Lisbon last Tuesday, Mikel Arteta has said.
The Gunners emerged as 5-2 victors away from home against the Hammers, with the visitors racing into a 4-0 lead after just 36 minutes.
Gabriel grabbed the first goal of the game after just 10 minutes from a corner, and the Brazilian became the first defender to score 10 times in the last three Premier League seasons.
The Brazilian has proved vital for Arsenal in the last two campaigns, with set pieces an important part of the Gunners' game plan.
However, the centre-back was taken off at half time due to injury, and Arteta said that the issue was related to the one he picked up against Sporting, telling reporters: "It was related to the previous injury that he had in Lisbon and obviously he did great to be part of that but with that result and with the niggle that he's feeling, we decided to take him off.
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A challenging Premier League season so far
The injury concerns regarding Gabriel are an all too familiar feeling for Gunners fans, with the team's fitness fortunes of last season seemingly coming to an abrupt end this campaign.
Martin Odegaard has only recently been restored to the starting lineup, while the likes of Mikel Merino and Ben White have also missed games this term.
Prior to the match against the Hammers, it was also revealed that Thomas Partey and Merino would not make the squad as a result of injuries.
Arteta was keen to highlight the importance of his squad in the aftermath of Arsenal's win against West Ham, saying: "We had an issue with [Gabriel], we have an issue with Ricky [Riccardo Calafiori] as well, yesterday we lost [Thomas Partey] and [Mikel Merino] and [Myles Lewis-Skelly] which was very bad news.
"What I'm really happy about is [Jakub Kiwior] has to come in, he does really well. [Oleksandr Zinchenko] the same, Jorginho, I thought he was exceptional today as well. That's the level, every three days we're going to need everybody at their best and it's a good sign that the team can do that."
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A statement win?
While it is difficult to produce statement wins when trailing by six – potentially nine – points in the title race, Arsenal were at least able to remind the rest of the Premier League of the team's quality.
It is no accident that the return of Odegaard has coincided with Bukayo Saka's breathtaking form, and the Gunners arguably boast one of the best right flanks in world football.
If Arsenal are to win the Premier League, then they will likely need to be near flawless from now until the end of the season considering if they were to return to their points per game average from 2023-24, it would only be enough to accumulate roughly 82 points.
The last time a title was won with fewer than 83 points was in 2015-16 when Leicester City were crowned champions with a tally of 81 points.
Arteta and Arsenal fans will hope to have Gabriel available immediately for what will be a demanding winter period while they seek to capitalise on any points Liverpool drop.
Lewis Nolan
