Arsenal vs Coventry City injury news as 3 ruled out and 1 doubt
Arsenal kick off their Premier League title defence on Friday night, when they face newly promoted Coventry City. The Gunners won the Community Shield with a comfortable win over Manchester City last weekend, but the real season starts now.
The Gunners know there is no time to waste if they want to win the title again, and they will be keen to set the tone in their first game, especially playing front of their home fans at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal have strengthened with the signings of Bruno Guimaras and Christos Tzolis so far this season, while Ezri Konsa is on his way from Aston Villa, and there will likely be a winger signing to come.
Coventry have been busy improving their squad to prepare for the Premier League after winning the Championship under Frank Lampard last season. Well over £100million has been spent, and around £30million of that has been on recent signings Sidiki Cherif and Taiwo Awoniyi. Elsewhere, Caleb Yirenkyi, Carl Rushworth, Loum Tchaouna, Aurele Amenda, Gus Hamer and Frank Onyeka have made up the rest of their recruitment.
Ahead of Friday night's Premier League opener, we have rounded up the latest injury news surrounding both Arsenal and Coventry City.
Ephron Mason-Clark - Fit
Mason-Clark picked up a small hamstring issue in pre-season but has now been confirmed as fit for this game.
Jack Rudoni - Fit
The same applies for Rudoni, who has shaken off a small shoulder issue.
Haji Wright - Out
Wright, who scored 17 goals for the Sky Blues last season, is going to be out for some time. Lampard said in his pre-match press conference: “Haji Wright won’t be available for the Arsenal game. He won’t be available for a little while, he’s got a very serious quad injury which is disappointing for Haji and for us. It’s certainly going to be a number of weeks, could even be up to 12 weeks.”
Bruno Guimaraes - Doubt
Guimaraes picked up a muscular issue during the Community Shield win, and he will be assessed late before the Coventry game. Arteta said in his pre-match press conference: "Let's see how it is. It's evolving really well, but let's see for tomorrow."
William Saliba - Out
Arsenal will be without reliable centre-back William Saliba due to the back injury that worsened during the World Cup, leading to him requiring a procedure. Arteta has said: "Wilo, as we all know, it's more a long-term injury." It's likely the Frenchman will be out until some time in November.
Jurrien Timber - Out
In his last update, Arteta said of Timber, who has a groin injury: “[Timber] is progressing really well, he is on the pitch. We are ramping up now with certain actions and especially the volume and the load, and I think he is on a good trajectory, but there are still a few weeks to go.
“I don’t know [if he will be back before the break]. We have to wait and see. He needs to start training with the group in the next week or so, hopefully, and then see how he progresses from there. It’s been a long-term issue right now, and we want to make sure that every step that we take is the right one, he feels right to do that and he’s such an important player for us.”
