Nketiah & Trossard News Ahead of Sporting Clash

Sporting Lisbon host the Premier League leaders in the Europa League on Thursday night and with several key figures appearing to have been ailing in recent weeks we guide you through the latest update on Arsenal injuries.

The Gunners go into their first European knockout tie of the season after a thrilling comeback win over Bournemouth, restoring a five-point lead at the top of the Premier League table.

Although Arsenal fans will be fully focused on the league, the Londoners have eluded major European titles since their 1994 Cup Winners’ Cup triumph and the opportunity to contest for both trophies could be a major power shift to theirs signal favor.

Despite this, Arsenal fans remain concerned about their squad’s capacity and depth, and several key names remain sidelined for this Europa League first leg against Sporting Lisbon.

Arsenal Injury Update

Eddie Nketiah

Although Mikel Arteta has been experimenting without a recognized striker in recent games, the Spaniard later revealed that Eddie Nketiah has been struggling with minor injury concerns in recent games.

“We will test him” Arteta said in his recent press conference. “To be honest it’s a bit uncertain what’s going to happen to him in the training sessions.

“Let’s see, let’s keep our options open. He’s very positive about it and hopefully he’ll be fine.”

With concerns elsewhere in the forward line, Nketiah could appear on Thursday should he be fully fit, especially after sporadic appearances of late.

Jorginho

Jorginho, signed in January, was picked up at half-time against Everton after an apparent illness but was benched in the weekend’s 3-2 win over Bournemouth – he should be ready to appear mid-week.

Arteta said: “Jorgis [Jorginho] is good. He had an illness and he put in a great shift, but we decided to wean him off [vs Everton].”

Leandro Trossard

The Belgian has been electrified since moving to north London, but a collective groan was heard among Gunners fans as he left the field injured after just 20 minutes at the weekend.

“It worries me, he came to me straight away and said he couldn’t go on, he felt something when he drove back so we had to undress him.

“We’ll examine him and see how he’s doing.”

Emile Smith Rowe

Emile Smith-Rowe was replaced by eventual match-winner Reiss Nelson, although the former came on for Trossard after 20 minutes.

Smith-Rowe has just returned from a long stint on the sidelines following groin surgery and it appears Arteta’s move was both tactical and protective for his player, who is still regaining full fitness.

“We didn’t plan on throwing him in that early. We knew it was difficult for him to last 70 minutes on the field after being absent for almost five months.

“But I think he had a good influence, but in the end I felt like we needed something different on the left because we lacked the threat and we were able to attract more players to that side. That’s why we decided to sign Reiss.”

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