With Arsenal playing their final pre-season fixture on Sunday, we’re now just days away from the start of the Premier League campaign. Mikel Arteta’s squad are nursing a few injury concerns ahead of that opening game.
The latest injury is to Fabio Vieira, with Arsenal confirming ahead of Sunday’s Emirates Cup match that Vieira had been left out with a “slight hip issue”.
That doesn’t sound too serious, but for now it’s the only official update we’ve had on the injury.
Elsewhere, Jurrien Timber and Takehiro Tomiyasu were both absent from Sunday’s game through injury, with Timber carrying a slight foot issue and Tomiyasu suffering a knee injury.
Arteta gave a positive update on Timber, suggesting the player will be back in full training within the next week.
“It’s fine,” Arteta said of Timber’s absence. “He’s been doing some individual work, that’s clear now. So we expect him to be ready to train with the group in the next week, because he has no reaction. So quite positive.”
Arteta’s update wasn’t so encouraging on Tomiyasu, with the manager expecting the defender to be out for a while.
“Yeah, I think it will take weeks on that one unfortunately,” Arteta admitted. “He’s going to have to be patient and work through it because I think it’s going to take a few weeks.”
The only other injured player in Arsenal’s senior squad is Kieran Tierney, and there’s no new update on the Scotland international.
James McNicholas reported for The Athletic in early August that Tierney would at least miss the remainder of pre-season, but there hasn’t been any suggestion he’s imminently set to return since then.
Tierney was forced off during Scotland’s Euro 2024 match against Switzerland in June after his knee hyperextended and he fell to the turf clutching his hamstring.