Arsenal take on Nottingham Forest in the Premier League in their first game after the November international break.
The Gunners haven’t had a great start to the season. They are already nine points behind league leaders Liverpool and have a mountain to climb now.
Injuries have been really cruel to Arsenal since the start of the season. They have had at least one player injured at every point since the beginning of the campaign.
On their website, Arsenal have released pictures from their training session on Thursday ahead of the game against Nottingham Forest. We couldn’t help but notice several absentees.
Seven Arsenal players not spotted in training ahead of Nottingham Forest clash
Arteta said before the international break that he will be praying that all of his players will be fit, but training photos released by Arsenal are worrying.
As many as seven first-team stars have not been pictured in training at the Sobha Realty Training Centre on Thursday.
Bukayo Saka:
The 23-year-old withdrew from the England squad after picking up an injury in the game against Chelsea before the international break. Saka is said to be facing a ‘race against time’ to be fit for the clash against Forest on Saturday.
Declan Rice:
Like Saka, Rice too pulled out of the England squad because of a broken toe. The Englishman played through the pain against Chelsea but couldn’t finish the game. It remains to be seen if he will be able to recover in time for the game this weekend.
Riccardo Calafiori:
Calafiori suffered a knee injury in the game against Shakhtar Donetsk and has been out of action since. The Italian was expected to be back after the international break, but he hasn’t been pictured in training.
Ben White:
White underwent surgery during the international break. The Englishman had been struggling with an issue in his knee for a while and this procedure should help him overcome that. He is definitely ruled out of the game against Forest.
Leandro Trossard:
Trossard suffered an injury while on international duty with Belgium. The former Brighton man has struggled with form recently, and this setback comes as a big blow. It remains to be seen how serious his issue is.
Jurrien Timber:
Timber started the Netherlands’ first game of this international break and was an unused substitute in the second. There were no signs that he was injured, which is why it’s a bit strange that he wasn’t pictured in training on Thursday.
Kai Havertz:
Havertz started Germany’s first game during the break and then came on as a substitute in the second. There were no signs that he picked up an injury either but like Timber, he wasn’t spotted in the training pictures released by Arsenal. Hopefully, he’s fine.
READ MORE: Mikel Arteta’s strongest Arsenal starting XI for Nottingham Forest amid seven-man injury crisis
Mikel Arteta could be playing mind games
Some of the names above have had issues with their fitness recently and could be genuine doubts for the game against Nottingham Forest at the Emirates.
However, a few others could be fit but not pictured in training because of Arteta.
Oleksandr Zinchenko recently revealed that Arteta loves playing mind games to fool opposition managers ahead of facing them.
The Arsenal manager could be the same to keep Nuno Espirito Santo guessing. His Nottingham Forest side have trailed the least in the Premier League so far this season, so it will be a tough game.
Arteta is scheduled to face the media on Friday. We should get an injury update then.
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