Arsenal are possibly set to miss Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Thomas Vermaelen for this Saturday’s FA Cup final, with the duo facing a race to be fit.
The Ox has been out for a number of weeks with a groin injury but it was hoped he would be available for the Gunners trip to Wembley to face Hull City. Wenger has claimed he has until Thursday to prove his fitness.
Saturday’s match could be Vermaelen’s final game in an Arsenal shirt with his future uncertain, and it appears he may miss out all together after pulling up late before last weekends Premier League fixture with a knee problem.
Elsewhere, the rest of the squad should be fine with no new setbacks from their win over Norwich. The Gunners boss also confirmed Jack Wilshere should be fit for the World Cup as he continues to step up his fitness levels after returning last weekend.
Wenger revealed the following team news at his prematch press conference:
Everybody should be available who played in our last game at Norwich. There’s still some uncertainty about Oxlade-Chamberlain (groin) and Vermaelen who was out at the last minute with stitches in his knee. We’ll know more about that tomorrow or Friday.
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[on waiting on Oxlade-Chamberlain’s fitness] I will only know [on Thursday] if he has a chance to be in the squad or not.
[on Wilshere’s fitness] He works hard. We have a hard session today [Wednesday] again and he progresses. He played 30 minutes at Norwich, that was planned, he came out well. If you ask me about the World Cup, he should just have enough time to be fully fit.
Predicted lineup to follow…
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