Mikel Arteta handed new Arsenal injury worry as star forced off after 18 minutes
Christos Tzolis was forced off for Greece in a huge injury concern for Arsenal
Arsenal star Christos Tzolis has been forced off with a potential injury while playing for Greece. After just 18 minutes, the Gunners winger clutched at his hamstring and went to the floor with his shirt over his face appearing distraught which saw him replaced by Giorgos Masouras.
An early positive for Arsenal is that after receiving treatment, Tzolis looked as though he wanted to carry on but Greece head coach Ivan Jovanovic made the decision to bring him off.
The summer signing has got off to a great start in north London after joining from Club Brugge and has grabbed a number of assists during the first few weeks of the season.
The 24-year-old is just the latest Arsenal star to suffer an injury worry over the international break, with Kai Havertz already back at London Colney. He suffered a suspected hamstring strain while playing for Germany and is a doubt to face Leeds United next weekend.
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard sparked concerns over a possible ankle issue, following a late tackle from Bernardo Silva, but those were eased by Norway boss Stale Solbakken and he then started his side's latest clash against Wales.
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Ezri Konsa missed England training earlier this week but was fit enough for a place on the bench against Czechia on Tuesday evening. Declan Rice did not even make it to national team camp having pulled out of Three Lions duty due to load management.
Arteta is already without Ben White, Cristhian Mosquera and William Saliba. There has been a positive update on the latter, however, with reports in France claiming he is targeting a return to training in November.
Caution will be taken with his return to the fold given the back issue that has plagued him for a number of months. Mosquera meanwhile, is expected to be fit to face Leeds having not played since the win over Aston Villa.
Piero Hincapie is an injury doubt for Arsenal's next game after surprisingly being omitted from the squad to face Ipswich Town in the Carabao Cup, though he did travel to Brighton a few days later.
Cristhian Mosquera and Piero Hincapie have both had spells out injured
He was expected to start the former clash having been behind Riccardo Calafiori in the pecking order but it was Myles Lewis-Skelly deployed from the off instead.
Jurrien Timber has, however, returned to the fold, though he is being carefully managed. He made a 10-minute cameo against Serbia and was named in the starting XI and seemingly at centre-back to face Tzolis' Greece on Thursday.
If the latter has suffered an injury, Arteta is facing a problem with Eberechi Eze seeming as his only possible option to deploy off the left. Noni Madueke could also play that role but has been used as the back-up to Bukayo Saka on the right in order to help his minutes be managed.
Viktor Gyokeres' international break has at least been a positive with the striker scoring in both of Sweden's Nations League victories. Bruno Guimaraes has also scored for Brazil in their win over Australia while Mikel Merino grabbed an assist in his 33-minute cameo for Spain as they beat Croatia 4-1.
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