Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes is optimistic he will be fit in time to take on Newcastle United this weekend despite picking up an injury in midweek against Chelsea. The Brazilian appeared to be struggling with several issues during Tuesday’s 3-1 victory over the west Londoners, pulling up and clutching his thigh at one point before later taking a knock to the ankle. Gabriel received treatment on several occasions and tried to play through the pain but was eventually forced to come off in the 85th minute. This is the first time the ever-present 25-year-old has failed to complete the full 90 minutes in a Premier League match this season.
Gabriel has enjoyed a strong campaign for the Gunners despite Arsenal’s troubles at the back in recent weeks and his potential absence would be a massive blow ahead of a very tricky away trip to St James’ Park on Sunday. However, The Evening Standard are reporting that the Brazilian is hopeful the injury will not rule him out of the contest and he is optimistic he will be able to travel to the north east. Arsenal’s players underwent a recovery session on Wednesday and were then given a day off on Thursday, with the squad reporting back to London Colney on Friday. Gabriel will be assessed over the next 48 hours before a final decision is made, with manager Mikel Arteta likely to provide a fresh update at his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon. The Spanish coach sounded a little worried after the win over Chelsea, saying of his centre-back: ‘He wasn’t comfortable. We tried for 10 or 15 minutes but he could not carry on which is strange for Gabi. So we are a bit concerned about that because normally he’s not one that wants to leave the pitch.’
If Gabriel does not recover in time, Arsenal will likely field a centre-back partnership of Rob Holding and Jakub Kiwior against Newcastle with William Saliba still out of action with a troublesome back issue. The Poland international – who moved to the Emirates in a £21million deal from Spezia in the January window – gave a good account of himself against Chelsea in what was his first Premier League start for the club. Holding, meanwhile, had been dropped for the match after some difficult games recently and, despite getting back to winning ways, Arsenal are still yet to keep a clean sheet since Saliba’s injury and have shipped 12 goals in their last five games.