Arsenal star suffers injury scare as Gabriel update emerges before Tottenham clash

A fresh Arsenal injury scare has emerged ahead of the North London Derby against Tottenham after Gabriel and Riccardo Calafiori setbacks.

Mikel Arteta has been handed a fresh Arsenal injury scare after a nightmare international break that has involved two other key players suffering issues. The first of those emerged at the very beginning of the two-week domestic pause with Riccardo Calafiori following a separate training programme in Italy training because of a hip issue.

National team head coach Gennaro Gattuso, therefore, opted against deploying him for World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Norway. Despite concerns, the expectation is that he will be fine to feature in the North London Derby against Tottenham this weekend.

The same can't currently be said for Gabriel Magalhaes after he was forced off with a groin injury in Brazil's friendly against Senegal at Emirates Stadium. A statement later confirmed that the 27-year-old was miss his national team's following clash after undergoing initial examinations.

"Arsenal player Gabriel Magalhaes was re-evaluated this Sunday (16) and underwent imaging tests that revealed a muscle injury in his right thigh," it read.

"Therefore, the player will not travel with the team to the match against Tunisia in Lille. No other player will be called up to replace him."

Having seen two key defenders miss games through injury, Arteta would be desperately hoping all of his players return to London Colney injury-free, but it very nearly got worse for him on Monday evening. In the Netherlands' clash against Lithuania, Jurrien Timber required treatment from physios, on what appeared to be a knee problem.

Given the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury he suffered a couple of years ago, that would have been a major concern. However, it turned out to be just an impact to his his knee with images showing a surface-level cut after he was caught by the studs of Edgaras Utkus.

The incident, which occurred in the 36th minute, was missed by the referee and yet - even with VAR - no penalty was awarded despite still images showing the Arsenal man was caught late and quite high up on his leg.

Thankfully, despite the fairly significant gash on his leg, Timber was able to continue and he even came out for the second half, before being replaced by Lutsharel Geertruida just after the hour-mark. That certainly suggests he will be fine to play against Spurs with it just an injury scare.

Arsenal are already dealing with multiple injury concerns ahead of the showdown against their arch rivals. Viktor Gyokeres, Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz, Noni Madueke and Martin Odegaard have all missed varying periods, but the hope is that all three can return soon.

There is a chance that even takes place this weekend, with Odegaard delivering an injury update while away with Norway to celebrate their qualification to the World Cup.

"It's moving forward," Odegaard told Norwegian broadcaster TV2 when asked on Sunday about his knee injury. "The match today came a little too early... but it's starting to look better, so hopefully I'll be back soon."