Arsenal’s second Champions League night of the campaign will begin with a thinner squad than Mikel Arteta had planned, as Piero Hincapie and Martin Zubimendi have both been ruled out of the visit of Davide Ancelotti’s Lille.
Two absences before Lille arrive
Arteta confirmed that neither Hincapie nor Zubimendi will be available for the Matchday 2 fixture. The Arsenal manager did not put a timescale on either player’s absence, but made clear they would miss the meeting with the French side.
- Hincapie and Zubimendi each suffered an ankle injury.
- The problems did not occur during Arsenal’s most recent match against Leeds.
- Both injuries were sustained in a recovery and conditioning session held after that game.
- They join William Saliba and Christos Tzolis among Arsenal’s unavailable players.
A costly post-match session
The session had been arranged for players who had started on the bench or received limited minutes against Leeds. Arsenal’s intention was to give the whole group Sunday as a recovery day while ensuring those short of match action maintained the required physical level.
Instead, two separate incidents left Arteta without two more options for a demanding European assignment.
“We had organised work after the match for those who had not played enough, so everyone could recover the following day and remain at the right level,” Arteta explained. “In two very unfortunate moments, we lost two players. It is far from an ideal situation.”
Asked how Arsenal could prevent a repeat, the manager answered with characteristic practicality. “The easy answer is not to train. If you never train, players do not get injured. It has not happened to me during my seven years here, and hopefully it does not happen again. But it is what it is.”
Saliba progressing, but not yet ready
There was a more encouraging update on Saliba, although the French centre-back remains outside the available group for Lille.
Arteta said Saliba has been working on grass for more than a week, with the club carefully managing his workload. The next few weeks will determine whether he can begin reintegrating with the squad.
