Mikel Arteta looks on with baited breath
(Image credit: Glyn KIRK / AFP via Getty Images)
Arsenal remain in the hunt for four trophies this season after they cruised into the fifth round of the FA Cup on Sunday evening.
Goals from Noni Maduke, Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus and a Jack Hunt own goal ensured Arsenal duly dispatched League One Wigan Athletic, as the Gunners reached the last-16 for the first time in six years.
With Mikel Arteta’s men four points clear at the top of the Premier League table, into the Carabao Cup final and having topped the Champions League league phase, the club face a huge three months, where their squad depth is likely to be tested.
Arsenal star issues injury updateArsenal suffered an injury blow ahead of the victory over the Latics, as defender Riccardo Calafiori limped out of the warm-up and had to be replaced in the starting line-up by Bukayo Saka.
Gunners fans then feared yet another injury issue when they saw Ben White replaced on 79 minutes after appearing to pick up a knock.
Ben White takes to the field ahead of the visit of Wigan in the FA Cup (Image credit: David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)Arteta was unable to give an update on White in the immediate aftermath of the victory, but the player himself took to social media to give both his manager and the club’s fans a welcome prognosis.
“Next round, no injuries,” he posted on his Instagram account, alongside an image of him in action during the game.
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This came after Arteta had stated after the game that he would need to wait to see how Calafiori and White progressed before knowing the extent of any issues.
“Yeah, him and Ben [White] are the only doubts,” he said. “We have to wait and see in the next 48 hours how things develop.”
Arsenal have also been battling with the fitness of both Saka and Martin Odegaard – the latter of whom was rested fully at the weekend – while Mikel Merino and Kai Havertz are significant absences in attack.
Kai Havertz was recently sidelined (Image credit: Getty Images)Merino is set to miss the rest of the season after picking up a foot injury, while Havertz was recently sidelined following a muscular injury, and is targeting a return after next weekend’s North London Derby.
Arsenal return to Premier League action this week, as they take on bottom-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux.
For more than a decade, Joe Mewis has worked in football journalism as a reporter and editor. Mewis has had stints at Mirror Football and LeedsLive among others and worked at FourFourTwo throughout Euro 2024, reporting on the tournament. In addition to his journalist work, Mewis is also the author of four football history books that include times on Leeds United and the England national team. Now working as a digital marketing coordinator at Harrogate Town, too, Mewis counts some of his best career moments as being in the iconic Spygate press conference under Marcelo Bielsa and seeing his beloved Leeds lift the Championship trophy during lockdown.
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