Untold Injury Index – Gameweek 10: Arsenal injuries fall (a little bit) « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News, supporting the club, the players and the manager

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Untold Injury Index – Gameweek 10: Arsenal injuries fall (a little bit)

By Dale Higginbottom

At the strong risk of jinxing it again ahead of a Champions League group game, I have gone with the above title. Yes, injuries are on the decline again and the return of Jenkinson and Vermaelen this week has certainly given us some extra confidence at the back and we’ll hopefully be seeing Gibbs and Diaby in the squad again soon.

On Diaby actually, Wenger has said that he’s still three weeks away and it seems that he’s been like this for at least two months now. It is no wonder that Wenger is ‘worried’ about him and given his track record of injuries, this is certainly something to be a little concerned about. It’s a massive shame for Diaby as it really seems that every time he’s given an opportunity to get make a stake for a starting role (this time with the departures of Nasri and Fabregas), he’s given another set-back. We all wish him a speedy recovery I’m sure but now it’s time to look at this week’s injury list.

A = Ankle	K = Knee
B = Back	L = Achilles
C = Calf	M = Muscle
D = Dead Leg	N = Hip
E = Hamstring	R = Rib
F = Fatigue/Lack of Fitness	S = Shoulder
G = Groin	T = Thigh
H = Head Injury/Concussion	U = Unknown
I = Illness	Y = Hand
J = Foot	Z = Broken Leg

Chelsea Vs Arsenal (3-5)

Injuries	Chelsea (2 + 2S)	Arsenal (5 + 0S)
Goalkeeper	Hilario (N,4)	N/A
Defence	N/A	Sagna (A,4), Gibbs (M,4)
Midfield	Essien (K,10)	Wilshere (A,10), Diaby (A,10)
Attack	N/A	Chamakh (K,1)
Additional issues	Ramires returned from injury and played the first 72 minutes.	Vermaelen returned to the league squad but only played the last few minutes.  Jenkinson also returned, coming on in the 75th minute.
Suspended	Drogba, Turnbull	N/A

Tottenham Vs QPR (3-1)

Injuries	Tottenham (5 + 0S)	QPR (4 + 0S)
Goalkeeper	N/A	N/A
Defence	Dawson (L,6), Corluka (U,3)	Connolly (U)
Midfield	Pienaar (G,9), Huddlestone (A,6), Kranjcar (A,5)	Dyer (J)
Attack	N/A	Campbell (J), Hulse (K)
Additional issues	Gallas and King returned to the squad, the latter played the whole game, the former was an unused substitute. Sandro was a doubt with a calf injury but he was included and was a late substitute.	Gabbidon returned to the squad and started on the bench. He played from the 9th minute after replacing Hall who picked up an injury. Traore passed a late fitness test and played the whole game.
Suspended	N/A	N/A

 Man City Vs Wolves (2-0)

Injuries	Man City (1 + 0S)	Wolves (3 + 0S)
Goalkeeper	N/A	N/A
Defence	N/A	Foley (A), Zubar (G)
Midfield	Hargreaves (C,3)	N/A
Attack	N/A	Fletcher (C)
Additional issues	N/A	N/A
Suspended	N/A	N/A

 West Brom Vs Liverpool (0-2)

Injuries	West Brom (1 + 0S)	Liverpool (3 + 0S)
Goalkeeper	N/A	N/A
Defence	N/A	Robinson (A,2), Carragher (C,1)
Midfield	N/A	Gerrand (A,6)
Attack	Long (K)	N/A
Additional issues	N/A	Suarez was a doubt but started the game.
Suspended	N/A	N/A

 Everton Vs Man Utd (0-1)

Injuries	Everton (3 + 1S)	Man Utd (4 + 0S)
Goalkeeper	N/A	N/A
Defence	N/A	Rafael (S,10), Smalling (J,3)
Midfield	Cahill (U), Neville (E)	Gibson (A,8), Young (J,1)
Attack	Anichebe (G)	N/A
Additional issues	Heitinga was a doubt but he started and played the whole game. McFadden returned to the squad but did not play.	Cleverley returned to the squad. He started and played the first 56 minutes before having to be replaced.
Suspended	Drenthe	N/A

So it’s two in and one out for Arsenal as we re-join our neighbours at the injury top-table. I don’t think it’s something to get too worried about as Chamakh and Gibbs should be just around the corner. Looking at the big-six however it is looking like there has also been a little bit of narrowing of the gap between top and bottom. City have actually recorded an injury for a change and Liverpool’s and Chelsea’s lists appear to be on the rise as well.

What a great game on Saturday. Everyone really worked hard and chipped in to make it a great team performance. Koscielny had another blinder in defence. He’s really stepped up this season and with Vermaelen now back from injury, Wenger really has some big decisions on who to choose as the centre-back pairing. The midfield three are also really finding their feet and playing well together which, really helps to keep the pressure off Jack and Abou to make speedy recoveries from their ankle injuries.

It was quite a contrast to last season’s game at Stamford Bridge. For that game we had nine players missing (including van Persie, Walcott, Fabregas, Ramsey and Vermaelen) and we lost 2-0 (largely thanks to some poor refereeing). But this season’s game has shown how the number of injuries can really impact results. Let’s hope we can maintain a manageable level for the rest of the season.

Around the grounds it was wins all round for the top teams (except for Chelsea obviously) and not too many surprises to write home about. United’s central midfield creativity appears to lie solely on Cleverley’s shoulders and therefore any injury to him will be of major concern for them. It seems that the injury he picked up against Everton is not too serious so their performances might not be affected quite as much as the past few weeks, unfortunately.

Going into November things are certainly looking on the up both on a performance and an injury front. November has in the past been seen as a bit of a bogey month for Arsenal but I’m hoping that mantle was handed over to August this season. League fixtures are quite kind on us from now until Man City away on December 18 so maybe an unbeaten run is the order of the day and we can be fighting for more than just the fringes of top four by Christmas but let’s get this Champions League group wrapped up first eh?

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