Gabriel Magalhaes is expected to miss the North London Derby clash between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.
The Brazil international suffered an adductor injury during his country’s friendly against Senegal, and there are fears that he could be out until January.
Gabriel’s absence is a big blow for Arsenal, especially when you consider what happened the last time the Gunners went into a game against Spurs without their first-choice centre-back.
Arsenal were humiliated the last time they faced Tottenham without a first-choice centre-back
Arsenal have an excellent recent record against Tottenham.
The Gunners have won five and drawn one of their last six games, and they have lost just once in the last nine North London Derbies.
The common theme in their unbeaten six-game run against Spurs is that Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba started together at the back.
The last time that didn’t happen was in May 2022. Saliba was out on loan at the time, and Ben White was Arsenal’s first-choice centre-half alongside Gabriel.
However, the England international had a hamstring issue at the time. Even though he made the bench, he wasn’t fit enough to take part.
Mikel Arteta was forced to use Rob Holding in his position, and the former Bolton man was sent off after 33 minutes.
Arsenal ended up suffering a humiliating 3-0 defeat that evening, and that led to them missing out on Champions League qualification.
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The current Arsenal team are levels above the one that lost 3-0 to Tottenham back in 2022.
The Gunners had a back-four of Cedric Soares, Holding, Gabriel and Takehiro Tomiyasu in that game, with Mohamed Elneny protecting the defence and Eddie Nketiah leading the line.
Even with Gabriel’s injury now, Arsenal have proven international players like Riccardo Calafiori and Piero Hincapie ready to step into the heart of the defence.
Furthermore, they will have Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi right in front of their backline, which is the best midfield partnership in the Premier League right now.
Injuries are not ideal for Arsenal going to the North London Derby, but they are more than prepared to deal with them.
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