Arsenal dealt Vivianne Miedema injury blow as Leah Williamson update issued

Arsenal forward Vivianne Miedema will be sidelined for «several weeks» after undergoing knee surgery.

The Netherlands international was out of action for more than 11 months after rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in December 2022, but returned to competitive action against Bristol City last October. She has since featured a further 11 times for the Gunners in all competitions, scoring in January's 2-0 victory over Liverpool.

However, Miedema withdrew from international duty this week alongside clubmate Victoria Pelova. Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall has now confirmed the 27-year-old is set to be ruled out of this weekend's Women's Super League (WSL) clash with Tottenham Hotspur.

“She requires minor knee surgery and that will see her out of action for several weeks,” Eidevall said on Friday. “We will have an update on that after the surgery and when we see how she is progressing.”

Elaborating on Miedema's injury, the Gunners boss explained it had been a concern prior to the international break. “She doesn’t need the surgery because of those 45 minutes that she played (for the Netherlands) against Spain," he said.

«She would have needed surgery for it anyway. It was nothing that the Dutch team did that has made the situation worse, it was a situation that needed to be fixed anyway.” It was better news regarding Pelova, who could feature against Tottenham on Sunday, while vice-captain Leah Williamson could also make her return to the matchday squad.

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Williamson ruptured her ACL last April and made her return in Arsenal's League Cup rout of Reading in January.