Arteta decries Arsenal injuries as Luiz goes off against Newcastle
Mikel Arteta laments ‘incredible amount’ of Arsenal injuries as David Luiz is latest to be forced off in 2-0 win over Newcastle… with the Gunners boss defiant that ‘anything is possible’ over race for Europa League spot
- Mikel Arteta decried Arsenal’s ‘incredible’ bad luck with injuries this season
- David Luiz limped off with a hamstring issue in Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Newcastle
- Arteta also said ‘anything can happen’ regarding the Europa League race
Mikel Arteta could not hide his frustration at Arsenal’s ‘incredible’ misfortune with injuries as David Luiz became the latest player to hit the sidelines.
On an otherwise triumphant day for the Gunners that saw them defeat Newcastle 2-0 and remain in the hunt for European football next season, defender Luiz was forced off in the second half clutching his hamstring.
The Brazilian watched the rest of the match from the stands, which may be of some comfort to Arteta given anything very serious may have required immediate medical attention.
Mikel Arteta expressed frustration at Arsenal’s ‘incredible amount’ of injuries this season
Defender David Luiz limped off in pain during the second-half holding onto his hamstring
But the Arsenal boss lamented his team’s bad luck with injuries this season.
‘It’s incredible the amount of injuries we are having,’ he told Sky Sports. ‘There’s nothing we can do about it.
‘We are losing big players. It’s a shame because David made a big effort to be available as quick as possible after the surgery in his knee and probably we’ll lose him again.’
Arteta did not give any information on the seriousness of Luiz’s injury, nor how long he may be out for.
Luiz had only just returned to the team after undergoing a knee operation at the start of April, which Arteta initially feared would mean he missed the rest of the season. But his recovery went well and he was able to feature against Newcastle on Sunday.
Striker Alexandre Lacazette is also injured and did not recover in time for the Newcastle game
Left-back Kieran Tierney (right) has been a long-term casualty with knee ligament damage
With Luiz back on the injury list, Arteta is now missing three key first-team players. Striker Alexandre Lacazette remains sidelined with a hamstring issue, though there is hope he will return for the Europa League semi-final second leg against Villarreal.
Another long-term casualty is star left-back Kieran Tierney, who has been one of Arsenal’s best players this season. His rehabilitation continues and he is expected to return to full training soon.
In better news for Arteta, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored on his return to the team against Newcastle. The Arsenal captain had also been sidelined recently after contracting malaria.
Arteta was bullish about Arsenal’s chances of securing a Europa League spot next season, even though his side sit ninth in the Premier League and are five points behind Liverpool in sixth.
Luiz had only just returned to the Arsenal team after undergoing knee surgery in early April
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (right) scored on his return to Arsenal’s team after having malaria
‘We have a lot to do, (but) anything is possible. We wanted to put (recent) bad results out of the way.
‘The team was fresh, focused and committed on this game. Individually you need big performances and today we had some really good ones. We controlled the game, we did well.
‘We have to finish as high as we can. If we win all our matches, anything can happen.’
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