Mikel Arteta 'very worried' after fresh Arsenal injury blow before Aston Villa
Mikel Arteta admits he is 'very worried' by the severity of Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus' injury after the Brazilian was stretchered off in Sunday's FA Cup defeat to Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium. Jesus went down, clearly in some pain, in the second half and it was immediately apparent that he couldn't continue.
Following initial treatment, Jesus was carried from the field and the prognosis straight after the game from Arteta was downbeat. Days later, as Arsenal prepare to face North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday evening before welcoming Villa to the Emirates on Saturday, the outlook isn't any brighter.
It comes at a time when Jesus has significantly picked up by way of goalscoring form; his sole goal between January and December of last year came in a 3-0 win over Preston North End in the EFL Cup, but prior to Christmas he burst back into life. Jesus scored a hat-trick against Crystal Palace in the same competition before netting a brace against the same side in the Premier League. He then added another in the recent win at Brentford.
READ MORE: Harris or Dykes? Our writers disagree on Birmingham City XI for Swindon
READ MORE: Aston Villa handed PSR decision as Premier League statement issued
"We know more now and it's not looking good at all. We need to review with one more specialist and should know more this afternoon," Arteta admitted on Tuesday morning. "I don't want to confirm anything until we have a final doctor report, but we were very worried after the game and we are very worried now."
Arsenal, ahead of the welcoming of Spurs and then Villa, are already without Bukayo Saka, who underwent surgery on his thigh and will remain sidelined until the end of March at the very earliest, as well as youngster Ethan Nwaneri, Ben White, Riccardo Calafiori and Takehiro Tomiyasu, while Jurrien Timber has a tight hamstring.
