Arsenal centre-back Gabriel Magalhães could be out for up to two months after sustaining an injury during the international break, it has been reported.
The Gunners were in excellent form before this month’s international break, topping the Premier League table, remaining unbeaten in the Champions League group stages and advancing in the Carabao Cup.
Mikel Arteta’s side are unbeaten in 14 competitive games and the Premier League leaders are unbeaten since losing 1-0 to Liverpool at the end of August.
Arsenal clearly have the best team in the Premier League and have established themselves as solid favorites for the title, taking full advantage of Liverpool’s sudden decline and Man City’s instability.
Injuries are one thing that could derail Arsenal’s title challenge and they will be concerned after Gabriel suffered a thigh injury during this month’s international break, prompting Brazil manager Carlo Ancelotti to apologize.
Read: No surprise 4 Arsenal players to leave in January as Arteta makes wonderkid untouchable
Now, respected journalist David Ornstein has revealed to The Athletic that there is a “fear” that Arsenal could be without their centre-back for two months.
Ornstein added: “Officials briefed on the injury, speaking on condition of anonymity as they are not authorized to speak publicly, confirmed that further tests are needed to determine the full extent of Gabriel’s injury, but initial tests suggest he will be sidelined for one to two months.”
Prior to Ornstein’s update, separate reports said Arsenal had “no plans” to enter the market for a replacement for Gabriel in January, as they feel they have sufficient cover after signing Cristian Mosquera and Piero Hincapie in the summer.
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Still, former Premier League striker Matt Le Tissier has explained why he thinks Gabriel’s injury “comes at a really bad time for Arsenal”.
Le Tissier told Football Insider: “He’s (one of the best centre-backs in the world). He’s a big part of why Arsenal’s defense is so good. So if that happened (missing the North London derby) it would be quite a blow for Arsenal.”
“I know they have a pretty good squad right now and there are substitutes who can come in there, but he was very good so even if the substitute was really good you would probably see a slight difference there.
“What I would say is that it has come at a really bad time for Arsenal, not just the North London derby at the weekend, but I think the next two games are Bayern Munich and Chelsea.
“If he were to miss all three of these games, I think it would be a pretty big and extremely important three games. That would be a huge blow and we can only hope it’s not as serious as they initially thought.”
