Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta confirmed that his team suffered a painful blow, before facing Newcastle United, in the 35th round of the English Premier League.
Defender Gabriel Magalhaes faces a race against time to catch Newcastle’s decisive position, and it is unlikely that other defender William Saliba will participate in this match because he has not recovered from injury.
Saliba missed Arsenal’s last 7 matches, since he injured his back against Sporting Lisbon last March.
Meanwhile, Magalhaes was substituted, towards the end of Arsenal’s midweek win over Chelsea, after receiving a kick to the ankle.
“We’ll see how he (Magalhães) is tomorrow, but he couldn’t finish the (last) game, so that was a big sign,” Arteta said in a press conference on Friday.
On Saliba, Arteta added: “There is not much progress. He is feeling better every day but he has not been able to do any activity around the first team, so we do not expect him to be with us (against Newcastle).”
