Arsenal will be without Piero Hincapie and Martin Zubimendi for Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League clash with Lille after both players suffered injuries during a post-match training session, with manager Mikel Arteta confirming that the midfielder’s injury could be the more serious.
The pair picked up their respective injuries during a session at Emirates Stadium following Arsenal’s 2-1 Premier League victory over Leeds United on Saturday.
Arteta described the double setback as unfortunate and confirmed that both players would undergo further scans to establish the extent of their injuries and the expected recovery periods.
“Well, it happened,” Arteta said at his pre-match press conference.
“In two very unfortunate actions, we lost two players, and yeah, not great. We need to assess them today. They have further scans to see where they are and they will have that time frame, how long they’re going to be out for.”
The Arsenal manager confirmed that neither player would be available against Lille, although the club would have to wait for the scan results before determining how long they might be sidelined.
“They’re both going to miss tomorrow’s match, that’s for sure, and today they’re going to have a further scan and probably tomorrow we’ll know more,” he added.
“Piero’s one looks a little bit more serious I think, but we’ll have to wait and see.”
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The injuries raised questions about the decision to organise an additional training session so soon after Saturday’s match, but Arteta defended the approach, explaining that it was intended to help players who had seen limited action maintain their fitness and rhythm.
The Spaniard acknowledged the frustration of losing two players during the session but argued that avoiding training altogether would create different problems when those players were required to compete.
“Very easy; don’t train. Never train, and they don’t get injured. That’s why the consequence to that is when they have to play, they have no rhythm, and when you ask them to play, they’re going to have no impact in the game,” he said.
Arteta added that the situation was unprecedented during his seven years at Arsenal, despite the club having previously organised similar sessions without experiencing the same outcome.
“When you play these kind of small sided games, there is contact, and these things happen. They didn’t happen once last season, and we did it 37 times I think it is,” he explained.
He maintained that the club would have followed the same plan again, given the need to manage the workload of players who had not featured regularly.
Saliba remains weeks away from Arsenal return
While Arsenal await further clarity on Hincapie and Zubimendi, William Saliba is also continuing his recovery from injury, with Arteta indicating that the defender remains several weeks away from returning to action.
The French centerback has resumed work on the grass, but Arsenal is carefully managing his workload before considering a return to full team training.
“It’s over a week I think [he’s been on the grass], obviously we’re managing that load,” Arteta said.
“He’s building now his capacity to good standards, and let’s see in the next few weeks if we can start to introduce him to the team to see where we are to actually make him available for the squad.”
Arteta stressed that Saliba’s recovery would depend on how he responds to the next stages of rehabilitation, making it difficult to give a definitive return date.
“We’re still talking about weeks, and when that happens, it’s very different whether he would play just before or just after [the November international break] because it’s a very specific injury, that the healing process I cannot tell you exactly how he’s going to react to.”
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The absences of Hincapie and Zubimendi present Arteta with fresh selection challenges ahead of a significant European fixture, while Saliba’s continued absence further limits his options.
Arsenal will now assess the available players and determine how best to manage the squad for Tuesday’s encounter with Lille.
Although the full extent of the latest injuries remains unknown, Arteta will hope the additional scans provide encouraging news and that neither Hincapie nor Zubimendi faces an extended spell on the sidelines.
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