Christos Tzolis has given Arsenal and Mikel Arteta another injury scare after being substituted early in Greece’s clash with the Netherlands.
Arsenal star Christos Tzolis was injured while playing for the Greek national team. After just 18 minutes, the Gunners winger clutched his hamstrings and his shirt fell down his face, prompting him to be replaced by Giorgos Masouras.
An early positive for Arsenal is that after receiving treatment, Tzolis looked like he wanted to continue, but Greece manager Ivan Jovanovic decided to let him go.
The summer signing got off to a great start in North London after joining from Club Brugge, making a number of assists in the first few weeks of the season.
Kai Havertz, 24, is the latest Arsenal star to suffer an injury after the international break as he has already returned to London Colney. He suffered a suspected muscle strain while playing in Germany and is a doubt against Leeds United next weekend.
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard sparked concerns over a possible ankle problem following Bernardo Silva’s late exit, but Norway coach Stale Solbakken played down them and he then started his side’s final clash with Wales.
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Ezri Konsa missed England training earlier this week but was fit enough to make the bench against the Czech Republic on Tuesday night. Declan Race didn’t even make it to the national team camp after being suspended from the Three Lions due to load management.
Arteta is already without Ben White, Cristhian Mosquera and William Saliba. There has been a positive update on the latter, but there are reports in France claiming he is aiming to return to training in November.
Given the back problem that has plagued him for several months, he will be cautious about his return. Meanwhile, Mosquera is expected to be ready to face Leeds, having not played since the win over Aston Villa.
Piero Hincapie is an injury doubt for Arsenal’s next game after he was surprisingly left out of the squad to face Ipswich Town in the Carabao Cup, although he will travel to Brighton a few days later.
He was expected to start the former clash behind Riccardo Calafiori, but was replaced by Myles Lewis-Skelly who was placed on the sidelines.
Jurrien Timber is back in the lineup, albeit carefully managed. He made a 10-minute cameo against Serbia and was named in the starting XI to face Tzolis’ Greece on Thursday and seemingly at centre-back.
If the latter is injured, Arteta has a problem with Eberechi Eze and appears to be the only viable option out wide on the left. Noni Madueke could also play that role, but was used as backup to Bukayo Saka on the right to help manage his minutes.
Viktor Gökeres’ international break has been positive to say the least, with the striker scoring in both of Sweden’s Nations League wins. Bruno Guimaraes scored for Brazil in their win over Australia, while Mikel Merino had an assist in a 33-minute cameo for Spain as they beat Croatia 4-1.