The Arsenal matchday squad for tonight's clash against Crystal Palace is guaranteed to look a little different from the one Mikel Arteta named for their opening game of the new Premier League season.
Firstly, Jurrien Timber will not play any part at Selhurst Park and it would appear that his campaign is already over aftersustaining an injury to his anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during the 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest last weekend thus forcing the Gunners boss to adapt.
«It's a huge blow, especially for him having just joined the club to have the injury that he has is a huge disappointment for him,» Arteta said of the £34.2million Arsenal summer signing in the pre-match press conference. «Obviously for the team, it's a big blow because we recruited him with clear intentions and what he was bringing to the team was evident, and he’s not going to be in this season for us. We have to adapt, these things happen, unfortunately, and we have to move on.
»Jurrien has been very good, to be honest, he's a special character, he knows, and I think he's started to realise the extent of the injury and the amount of time that h'’s going to be out, but he's in a good place. We are all willing to him help and we are all very close to him, but it’s going to be a long journey."
Luckily for Arteta, in Takehiro Tomiyasu and Jakub Kiwior, he is not short of options at left-back whilst Oleksandr Zinchenko is set to be available for selection and that's before mentioning Kieran Tierney who was left out altogether against Forest but remains part of the Spaniard's plans.
That's one of several tough decisions facing the Arsenal manager, although it can be argued that his task has been made easier following another transfer announcement
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