Mari to be sidelined due to a calf injury

Arteta revealed the Spanish defender picked up the injury during training on Wednesday.

“He had a calf injury in training,”

revealed the Gunners boss

. “I think he will miss a few matches. He’s another one that we will lose.

“But we’ve got Gabriel [Magalhaes] back after Covid, which is good news, we’ve got Thomas [Partey] back as well. So let’s focus on the positives.”

In addition,

Arsenal’s

left-back,

Kieran Tierney

picked up a muscle problem on

Palace’s

matchday. To determine the extent of the problem, the Scotland international was due to have a scan on his calf on Friday.

“We don’t know [how long he’ll be out for],” said the Spaniard. “We’ll know more after testing him and knowing more about the injury.

“Certainly it was a big disappointment on the day of the match to lose him, but hopefully he can be with us very quickly.”

However, some good news for the Gunners might be the return of their £45 million summer signing,

Thomas Partey

, who came off the bench against

Palace

for the last 45 minutes to make his first appearance since suffering a thigh injury against

Spurs

on December 6.

Arteta

is so convinced he will transform the Arsenal midfield once he is fully fit as the Ghanaian made four tackles in the short time he was on the pitch.

“

He’s made the right step,”

said

Arteta

.

“Obviously he hasn’t played much football in the last four months. He had an injury run exactly the same place that he had before when he got injured against Spurs.

“Now we have the reassurance that he can compete for 25-30 minutes. He did well, he didn’t feel anything, so now we’re going to be looking for the next step.”