Henrikh Mkhitaryan will miss Arsenal’s clash with Southampton on Sunday. The influential midfielder suffered a knee injury in the Gunners’ Europa League quarterfinal first leg tie versus CSKA Moscow. Arsenal won the fixture, 4-1, but lost the player to injury.
Mkhitaryan was substituted in the second half of the Gunners’ match versus CSKA. With Arsenal flying to Russia for the second leg next week, it is believed Mkhitaryan could be left in London to recoup. Arsenal have one foot in the semifinals, and an away goal would all but seal their progression to the next round.
Reports are not clear on whether Mkhitaryan will return to the team’s starting XI this term or not. On Friday, The Telegraph claimed he could be out for the season, while other media outlets have stated he will only miss the weekend Premier League fixture against Southampton.
Following Arsenal’s clash with CSKA on Thursday night, manager Arsene Wenger spoke to the media about Mkhitaryan’s injury.
“He has a knee problem, we don’t know how bad it is, we have to assess it tomorrow morning. He will certainly be out for Sunday,” Wenger stated.
Since joining Arsenal, Mkhitaryan has hit the ground running. The Armenian has scored two goals and accumulated five assists in 12 matches.
While some of the speculation over Mkhitaryan’s injury has been positive, the Telegraph reported on Friday that the Arsenal playmaker could miss the rest of the season. The initial hopes were Mkhitaryan would be out for just a short time. However, Wenger spoke on Friday about a longer layoff.
“He has a scan but the medial knee ligament has been touched,” Wenger said. “The first impression is not too positive. I fear [it could be several weeks]. I hope I’m wrong.”
Is Mkhitaryan’s injury a major worry for Arsenal’s clash in the Europa League and the semifinals?
