Arsenal have reportedly suffered a significant injury blow ahead of their trip to Birmingham to face Unai Emery's Aston Villa this evening.
The Gunners made a positive start to the season, kicking off the campaign with a fairly straightforward 2-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend.
Leading up to this week's fixture, Mikel Arteta's side were expected to travel without Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney due to injury, while Fabio Vieira was left out and is expected to return to Poto on a season-long loan in the coming days.
However, reports on Saturday morning have suggested that the Gunners have been hit with a late injury blow to one of their key first-team players.
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Jesus ruled out for Gunners trip to Villa Park
According to insider 'Team News and Ticks' Arsenal will be without striker Gabriel Jesus for this evening's match, with the Brazilian believed to have not travelled with the squad to Villa Park.
It is understood that the Gunners' number nine has sustained a groin injury, though there is no confirmation as of yet as to how serious it may be.
The injury comes as a massive blow to the team, as well as the 27-year-old attacker, who has struggled with several injury setbacks since arriving in North London from Manchester City in 2022.
Jesus came off the bench last weekend and there were many that expected he would make the starting lineup for the clash against the Villans, who did the double over the Gunners last season.
The Brazilian featured in 27 matches for Arsenal last season and scored four goals while providing five assists.
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Gunners forced to sign a striker before transfer deadline?
Following the win over Wolves last week, Arteta revealed that the club would not be pursuing a new striker this summer, as he felt that they had sufficient depth in that area of the pitch.
However, with Eddie Nketiah looking increasingly likely to depart the Emirates Stadium this summer and Jesus's fitness now in doubt, the Gunners' frontline suddenly looks quite thin.
Kai Havertz is likely to continue in the number nine role for the time being, but it will be interesting to see if Arteta and Edu still opt to go beyond the transfer deadline and into a long season ahead without signing a new centre-forward.
For the majority of the summer transfer window, Arsenal were heavily linked with a move for Sporting Lisbon striker Viktor Gyokeres.
The Swede has shot out the blocks and has already banged in six goals in his first three Primeira Liga games this season, including a hat-trick on Friday night against Farense.
Devesh Jaganath
