Mikel Arteta is facing a selection headache in defence ahead of Arsenal’s game against Southampton at the Emirates on Saturday as the manager revealed he could be without both Jurrien Timber and Ben White.
Timber was taken off at half-time with a muscle problem during Tuesday’s 2-0 win over Paris St. Germain in the Champions League whilst White has not trained this week as he recovers from the groin injury he aggravated against Manchester City.
Riccardo Calafiori played the second half against PSG as an emergency right-back despite being naturally left footed, and with Takehiro Tomiyasu yet to feature this season and Oleksandr Zinchenko also out, Arteta could be forced to improvise again.
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“(Timber) was unbelievable in the first half but he felt something muscular and he wasn’t certain,” he said. “I didn’t want to take any risks. He’s been out for a year and he’s played a lot of minutes, probably more minutes than we would have wanted in the past few weeks and we have to manage him.”
Timber was not named in the Netherlands squad this week for the upcoming international break, but despite the predicament Arteta indicated all was not lost in the race for his full-backs to be fit in time for Saints.
“We had to modify training for a lot of players,” he said. “It was the same (Friday) because of the load that they had. There will be a decision to make this afternoon whether to involve them yes or no. They are close. It’s good news.”
Arsenal are one of two unbeaten sides in the Premier League and sit third ahead of the weekend, one point behind leaders Liverpool.
Captain Martin Odegaard has missed the last three games with the ankle injury he picked up playing for Norway in September, an absence that has forced Arteta’s hand in terms of the way his team has set up.
Leandro Trossard has started the league games that Odegaard has missed as well as the win over PSG, with Kai Havertz moved to play alongside him in a two-man strike partnership.
“We had to be different,” said Arteta. “The impact Martin has in everything that we do, it was too big to try to replicated it with one player.
“We’ve tried to do it in a different way, adapting a few things, playing players’ qualities, players that can play in different positions and with the right chemistry around them.
“Maybe it took a game or two but then things started to flow a bit better. We found a way, but we still miss him.
“We have to put players in positions and qualities that they can see they are in their strengths. We try to hide our weakness as much as possible.
“We don’t have Martin, there are all the things that we cannot do. But as well we have a big threat in other areas and we have to make the most of them.”
