Arsenal faces a double injury blow ahead of their match against Monaco, potentially missing up to seven first-team players.

Arsenal faces another injury setback ahead of their Champions League clash with Monaco and could be missing up to seven first-team players.

Currently sitting seventh in the group stage table, the Gunners are in position to secure automatic qualification for the last 16, having won three of their five matches, including a dominant 5-1 victory over Sporting Lisbon in their previous outing. Monaco, tomorrow’s opponents, are eighth and level on points with Arsenal, trailing only on goal difference, which sets the stage for a tightly contested encounter in north London.

The situation has become more difficult for Mikel Arteta’s side just over 24 hours before kickoff. According to Football.london reporter Kaya Kaynak, Thomas Partey was absent from training on Monday. More concerningly, defenders Gabriel Magalhães, Riccardo Calafiori, Oleksandr Zinchenko, and Jurrien Timber were also not in full training.

Timber and Partey, who both started in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Fulham, join Gabriel, Calafiori, and Zinchenko on the injury list. With Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu already sidelined, Arsenal’s defensive options are severely limited. If all seven players are unavailable, Arteta would have only William Saliba and Jakub Kiwior as senior defenders.

Despite these concerns, Arteta remains optimistic. Speaking after the Fulham draw, he expressed hope that Gabriel, Calafiori, and Zinchenko—who are reportedly dealing with minor issues—could recover in time. He said: “I hope they can. But it’s more a question for the doctors and the physios to understand where we are. We are missing a lot of players in the backline. The good thing is that whoever we put there, they respond with a good attitude and perfor

mance.”