[Team News] Arsenal v Southampton – Wenger Provides Worrying Updates On Ospina & Mkhitaryan

Arsene Wenger has given his side’s pre-match team news ahead of Sunday’s match against Southampton (via Arsenal.com).

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Matchday: Team News – Player Ratings – Match Highlights
Match: Arsenal v Southampton
Stadium: Emirates Stadium
Kick-Off (GMT): Sun 8 April 14:15
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It’s the return of Premier League football for Arsenal after the highs of last Thursday’s match in the Europa League.

The 4-1 first leg victory over CSKA Moscow will have pleased most Arsenal fans but it came at some cost to the squad.

David Ospina didn’t play in the match after picking up a knock and Henrikh Mkhitaryan was forced off just after the hour mark. Now, Arsene Wenger has provided an update on their fitness.

“Micki came off and he will be out for Sunday,” Wenger said in his pre-match press conference.

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“He has a scan and the fear is that his medial knee ligament has been touched. We’ll know more about that soon. For how long he will be out, I don’t know.

“Ospina is out for two to three weeks.”

Wenger also confirmed that Ainsley Maitland-Niles will miss the match before going into details about his squad rotation policy regarding the Premier League and Europa League.

“We are focusing on the Premier League and the Europa League with the squad.

“We rotate a little bit from one game to the other after considering the recovery and the slight injuries or risk of injuries.

“As well we consider that some people, like Aubameyang, are not available in the Europa League but they are available in the Premier League. So the rotation is quite natural.”

The injury to Henrikh Mkhitaryan is a little concerning. Not much is known about the Armenian international but, hopefully, things aren’t too severe.