Football
Arteta Provides Latest On Raya, White, Timber and Merino In Arsenal Injury Update Ahead Of Leicester Clash
Cai is a news and features writer that specialises in football, but has experience covering a variety of other sports, including darts, basketball, American football, MMA, boxing and more. He holds a degree in Football Journalism (BA Hons) from the University of Derby, and worked with Nottingham Forest FC and Burton Albion FC throughout his studies. Cai also has experience working in social media with the Football Association of Wales, where he worked on a freelance basis, and has also been an accredited writer in the JD Cymru Premier for both Y Clwb Pêl-Droed and welshfootie since the 2019/20 season.
Get to know Cai Parry betterPublished27 Sep 2024
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has provided the latest on David Raya, Ben White, Jurrien Timber, Mikel Merino and Takehiro Tomiyasu in an injury update ahead of Saturday’s Premier League clash against Leicester.
It looks as though Arsenal have come through their midweek clash against Bolton Wanderers in the Carabao Cup unscathed, however there are still concerns over several of their first team squad, including goalkeeper David Raya.
Raya suffered a thigh injury against Manchester City, and as Neto was cup-tied having already played for Bournemouth in the cup this term, 16-year-old Jack Porter started against Bolton, seeing him become the youngest-ever player to be named in a Gunners lineup.
Alongside the ex-Brentford goalkeeper on the treatment table heading into that one were Ben White, Jurrien Timber, Mikel Merino, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Martin Odegaard, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Kieran Tierney.
Odegaard, Zinchenko and Tierney have all been ruled out by Mikel Arteta for Arsenal’s fixtures, with all three expected to be out until after October’s international window in around two weeks time.
The conditions of Raya, White, Timber, Merino and Tomiyasu heading into this weekend’s clash against Leicester were unknown however, and Arteta provided the latest in his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon.
Arsenal Injury Update: Raya, White, Timber and Merino Latest Ahead of Leicester
Asked whether Raya was fit to start on Saturday afternoon, Arteta confirmed that a decision would have to be made on the day as to whether the Spaniard would have any involvement.
“We have to wait 24 hours to see if he is looking good or not that good. It’s not risk, it is about a player being fit or available or not. We will make the decision tomorrow.”
He continued, providing the latest on White and Timber: “Jurrien [Timber] was able to take part in training today so he will be available in the squad and Ben [White] hopefully as well.”
Arteta was also asked about Merino’s progress, to which he confirmed that the midfielder had returned to partial training but that Saturday’s clash is a bit too early for the midfielder to return to action.
“Tomorrow is too soon, next week we will see. He had partial training today, he has been working so hard and looked really good. It is just about the healing of that bone and how mature that is to expose us to basically.”
Finally, the Spanish manager touched on the condition of Tomiyasu, stating: “He’s back in partial training today.
“He’s probably a little bit behind Mikel [Merino] but it’s hard to tell because he pushes himself every single day.”
The Gunners are huge favourites among the UK’s best football betting sites to beat Leicester this weekend, at a price of 2/11, meanwhile the visitors are rated at 12/1 to cause an upset and snatch all three points at the Emirates.