Mikel Arteta will know as well as anyone that Arsenal’s season hinges heavily on Thursday night’s Europa League semi-final second leg tie at home to Villarreal.
The Gunners have overseen a dismal domestic campaign which sees them languish in ninth, while enduring their worst home form in more than five decades.
The pressure is on for boss Arteta, who could see the tide of fan opinion turn on him if he fails to beat his predecessor Unai Emery on Thursday.
However, Arsenal could go into the game without a trio of their most important players, all three of whom would have likely to have featured in some capacity if they were fit and firing.
Ahead of Thursday’s game, we have rounded up all the latest injury news.
Take a look below.
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Kieran Tierney
Tierney has missed Arsenal’s last six games with a knee injury, but wasn’t deemed fit enough to be named in the squad for the Gunners’ Premier League clash away at Newcastle on Sunday.
The Scotsman has struggled to shake off regular injuries since he swapped Celtic for Arsenal at the beginning of the 2019/20 campaign, with his latest spell on the side-lines coming at a crucial time for the Gunners, who would desperately love to see the left-back return in time for Thursday’s game.
However, Mikel Arteta revealed to the press ahead of Sunday’s game at Newcastle that Tierney is yet to return to full training and is unlikely to be ready in time for Emery’s return to the Emirates.
“They [Tierney and Lacazette] haven’t trained with us yet,” Arteta told Sky Sports ahead of the Newcastle match.
“So it’s unlikely to have them ready in the next few games.”
Alexandre Lacazette
The Frenchman is one of the main reasons Arsenal progressed to the last four of the Europa League after his heroics away at Slavia Prague, the striker bagged a brace in Prague in the second leg.
However, Arsenal’s number nine sustained a hamstring injury in the disappointing 1-1 draw at home to Fulham a fortnight ago which saw him miss the home defeat to Everton and the first leg of the Villarreal clash.
Arteta explained after the Newcastle victory that Lacazette, like Tierney is yet to return to full training and Thursday night’s high stakes clash could come too soon for the forward.
David Luiz
David Luiz limped out of action after appearing to aggravate his left hamstring, the Brazilian international looked extremely frustrated as he was helped off by the club physio just before the hour mark at St James Park.
Luiz had only returned from surgery on his knee recently, with his first start since the operation coming this afternoon at Newcastle.
Having only just returned from one injury, it looks like Luiz will also miss the Villarreal game.
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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
There is some good news for the Gunners, with Captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang appearing to shake off the last of his illness to find form at just the right time.
Arsenal’s skipper was diagnosed with malaria earlier this month, and was only fit enough to feature in the latter stages of the first leg of the semi-final, spurning a late chance to equalise.
The Gabon international was back among the goals during Sunday’s trip to Newcastle, though he wasn’t fit enough to last the entire 90 minutes, being withdrawn ten minutes before the full-time whistle.
Arteta’s decision to take Aubameyang off may have been with Villarreal on Thursday in mind.