Arsenal defender Piero Hincapie is among the players from international duty in real danger of being unavailable for this weekend’s FA Cup clash with Southampton.
Hincapie was withdrawn while playing for Ecuador with what looked like a potentially worrying muscle injury.
Now, according to James Benge and CBS Sports, it appears Hincapie is at the top of Arsenal’s ‘worry list’ for the upcoming fixtures.
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Piero Hincapie could miss Arsenal v Southampton
This international break has been an extremely testing one for Arsenal. It is as simple as that.
Quite who is seriously injured and who has come home just because of a minor niggle, only the players and Mikel Arteta will know.
However, with Hincapie, the matter does appear more serious.
CBS reports that the defender has now undergone medical and imaging tests to determine the severity of any injury and that Arsenal insiders are fearful it might be enough to keep Hincapie out for the immediate future at least.
That would see Hincapie miss the upcoming game with Southampton, while Mikel Arteta will then have to wait with bated breath to see if he’s fit for both the Champions League clash with Sporting and then the Premier League return against Bournemouth.
Arsenal are praying for good news on a number of players
Arsenal have a number of issues at play here with this international break.
The injuries have come at the worst possible time and while Mikel Arteta won’t really mind the noise around if his players are actually injured or not, it is more unwanted media attention.
Hincapie’s absence is a worry, while Noni Madueke being out could also be a huge blow for the Gunners.
| Player | Withdrawal reason |
| Noni Madueke | Knee |
| Bukayo Saka | Precaution |
| Declan Rice | Precaution |
| William Saliba | Ankle |
| Gabriel | Knee |
| Leandro Trossard | Hip |
| Jurrien Timber | Ankle |
| Martin Odegaard | Knee |
| Eberechi Eze | Calf |
| Piero Hincapie | Muscle |
| Martin Zubimendi | Knee |
Arsenal’s injured players from the international break
If we throw in the potential knee injury for Martin Zubimendi and assume the others are all fit, it still means three Arsenal first-teamers have gone down.
Couple that with the fact that Viktor Gyokeres and Riccardo Calafiori, as well as Kai Havertz, have still got another international game to get through, and it’s a nervy time for Arsenal fans.
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