Havertz out, White 'available' and Nwaneri up front: Arsenal team news ahead of Leicester game

The latest Arsenal team news ahead of Saturday’s game away to Leicester, featuring mupdates on Kai Havertz, Ben White and Bukayo Saka.

It’s been a rough week for Mikel Arteta and Arsenal. A training camp in Dubai went horribly wrong when Kai Havertz picked up an injury which has put him out for the rest of the season – and now the Gunners are left with just three fit ‘senior’ forwards, one of whom isn’t even old enough to drink. Their title challenge feels like it hangs by a thread.

The success or failure of Arsenal’s season may well be determined by whether Arteta can navigate the next few weeks before players like Bukayo Saka return to action – and the first test comes with Saturday’s early kick-off, when the Gunners travel to Ruud van Nistelrooy’s relegation-threatened Leicester City.

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We’ve got all the latest team news after Arteta’s pre-match press conference below, along with details of all the players likely to be absent and the progress of players like Saka and Ben White who are working through the rehabilitation process – and if you’re here looking for some information ahead of Friday’s Fantasy Premier League deadline, don’t forget to check out our resident expert’s latest advice column by clicking here.

Nwaneri an option after Havertz injury

German international Havertz was Arsenal’s last striker standing when the club went to the Middle East for a brief winter break, but he tore his hamstring while attempting to block a shot at the end of a training drill and won’t feature again this season as a result.

Arteta told the media on Friday that Havertz’s injury was a “big blow” but that he would “see what this team was made of” – unfortunately, having failed to sign a striker in January, the team certainly isn’t made of many forwards.

Raheem Sterling, Leandro Trossard and Ethan Nwaneri are the only first-team forwards available as it stands, with Gabriel Jesus also out for the season thanks to an ACL injury, Gabriel Martinelli out for at least three more weeks with a hamstring strain and Saka still out with his own hamstring issue.

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Asked at his press conference whether 17-year-old Nwaneri could play up front in Havertz’s place, Arteta responded that he “has the right qualities” to play through the middle, but stopped short of revealing his plans.

Other options across the front three include trying Myles Lewis-Skelly out on the left wing to free up Trossard to play through the middle, or trying out club captain Martin Ødegaard as a false nine, flanked by the Nwaneri and the more experienced Belgian.

‘Too early’ for Saka but White could return

Asked whether fresh fitness issues for Havertz and Martinelli could force the club to bring Saka back into the first-team fold sooner, Arteta told reporters that it was “too soon” for the England winger, who hasn’t played since being injured during a mid-December match against Crystal Palace.

Saka is still in the “early stage of rehab” and isn’t expected back until early March at best – but there was at least a positive update on the fitness of defender Ben White, another long-term injury absentee.

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White is now “training more regularly” as he works to come back from a long-term knee injury, with Arteta even saying that he was “available” to play – although the Spaniard stressed that Arsenal will “manage his load”. The 27-year-old could be an option against Leicester, but is unlikely to start.

Arsenal’s only other missing player is full-back Takehiro Tomiyasu, who has a serious knee injury and has managed just six minutes of Premier League football all season. There is no return date set as yet, with the club keeping details of his rehabilitation under wraps.

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