11 March 2024 , 17:36
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Arsenal have suffered a fresh injury blow, with Gabriel Martinelli expected to miss Tuesday's Champions League clash with Porto.
The winger sustained a foot problem during the hammering of Sheffield United last Monday and had to be helped off the pitch by two members of the Gunners' medical staff. A challenge just after the hour mark was the cause of the issue, with Martinelli struggling to walk by himself afterwards.
The Brazilian then missed the win over Brentford on Saturday, which saw Mikel Arteta's men jump above Liverpool and Manchester City into top spot in the Premier League. The 22-year-old also missed training on Monday ahead of his side's second leg tie against Porto, with the Portuguese side currently 1-0 up on aggregate.
While he admitted that Martinelli was absent on Monday, he refused to place a percentage on the chances of him being ruled out for sure. Arteta did reveal though that he is hopeful Takehiro Tomiyasu will be fit enough to feature.
"Not many updates – we still have 24 hours and we’re trying to have everybody fit an available. He [Tomiyasu] did the first part, Gabi didn’t, but that’s what we’re hoping for [Tomiyasu to be involved]. Percentage you want [on Martinelli playing]? There are options. Sorry to disappoint you!" Arteta said.
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Martinelli will be a major loss for Arteta while he is sidelined, having registered eight goals and five assists so far this season. He was also selected by Brazil coach Dorival Junior for the friendlies against England and Spain later this month, though his inclusion in those squads is now also in doubt.
Arteta lamented the injury issues that have plagued his team this season, though he is starting to see some of his experienced players return. The Gunners boss also urged his side to up their game in order to turn around their Last 16 tie.
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Martinelli was injured against Sheffield United and had to be helped off the pitch (Getty Images)"Well unfortunately we haven’t had them for long periods this season, the same for someone like Thomas [Partey] as well but we have others as well that will learn from experiences of playing those games and the boys will be ready tomorrow," Arteta said of his experienced players.
"Well everybody that is available has to be available enough to play because you might have to play after five minutes or from the start and the boys are in a good place. We’re certainly going to have to tweak a few things to generate much more than what we did against them.
"It’s the level of the Champions League; you’re facing top teams, the fact that there are two games as well plays on your mind and we’re going to have to be better tomorrow. Every week, every opponent has their strengths and weaknesses and the way that they approach the game and now we know them a bit better.
"We have played these kind of games many times in the Premier League, we played one two days ago. We’ll just focus on being ourselves and do more of the things that we can control better than we did a few weeks ago."
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