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Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Viktor Gyokeres will miss tomorrow’s clash with Slavia Prague but declined to specify the nature of the muscular problem the Sweden international picked up on Saturday.

Absent from today’s open training session at London Colney, it came as little surprise to hear the manager rule his striker out. However, there was a hint of frustration in Arteta’s tone that suggested the issue could be more serious than initially hoped.

“No, he’s definitely not available,” said Arteta when asked about Gyokeres’ involvement.

“He hasn’t trained today, and we need to do some more tests and scans in the next few days to understand the extent of the injury, but this game, he’s not available.”

Asked if he was worried about the problem or whether it might be short-term, Arteta added:

“No, I am concerned because he hasn’t had many muscular issues, and he had to leave the pitch, and he was feeling something, and that’s obviously never a good sign, especially for a player that is very, very explosive.

“We are digging in a little bit more to understand where we are in terms of the injury and we’ll announce the moment we know more.

“Obviously, he was very disappointed after the match with what he felt, but this is part of football.

“In the end, if you expect a linear line, everything going up, it’s not going to happen, and if he’s done something, he’s going to have to deal with it, we’ll help him to do that.

“He was in a really good moment, in a really good form, it’s very important for the team, but for tomorrow we don’t have him, so that’s it.”

Pressed on which muscle was affected, Arteta replied:

“I’ll leave that to the doctors; they will explain.

“I don’t want to talk anymore. We are here to talk about tomorrow’s match and the players that are available, and we’ll see in the next week or so.”

In addition to Gyokeres, Arsenal will be without Martin Zubimendi, who is suspended after picking up yellow cards in each of the first three Champions League group games. Christian Norgaard is expected to partner Declan Rice, who himself is one booking away from a suspension that would rule him out of the next fixture against Bayern Munich. Asked if that might influence his selection, Arteta said:

“It comes as well with the situation of Zubi – we know that. Zubi was on two yellows as well [and we played him], so that’s the competition.

“At some point, you might miss players in crucial games. Obviously, we’re going to try to avoid that as much as possibl,e but it’s part of the competition.”

For Norgaard, a first Champions League start will be just reward for his patience since moving from Brentford. After an early-season injury, he has had to wait for his opportunities, featuring mostly in the Carabao Cup.

“Exceptional,” said Arteta when asked about the midfielder’s attitude. “I knew very clearly the role that he was going to have, what he could add to the team, and he’s exactly doing that. I think he was in a really good moment before he got injured [in pre-season]. Then it took him a while, again as is normal, to get up to speed.

“Now he’s having some more minutes, and he’s available for tomorrow.”

Despite the absence of several key players — including Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz, Martin Odegaard, Noni Madueke and Gabriel Jesus — Arsenal go into the match as clear favourites, having won nine consecutive games.

Still, Arteta was quick to emphasise the threat posed by Slavia Prague.

“The team has been competing really well in all different competitions, and tomorrow we know we have a really tough match here.

“They are unbeaten here at home all season. It’s a team that they are very used to playing together. They have a very clear philosophy.

“They create a massive atmosphere as well, so we know there’s going to be a really tough match.”

With momentum on their side but injuries beginning to mount, Arsenal will look to maintain their perfect Champions League record and keep confidence high heading into a packed festive schedule.

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