Unai Emery expects Nacho Monreal to sit out Arsenal’s Boxing Day trip to Brighton after picking up a muscular problem during the 3-1 win over Burnley.
The Spaniard, who missed six weeks between October and December with a hamstring problem, started the game as the left centre-back in a 4-3-1-2 formation but limped off on 37 minutes. Unai Emery sent on Stephan Lichtsteiner in his place and subsequently switched to a three-man backline.
Asked in his post-game press conference what had happened to Monreal, Emery replied:
“It’s starting to be a muscular problem and we decided to change and not take more risks with him. But I hope it’s not big and I hope he can be with us next week.
“I don’t know if he can play at Brighton, but we can play, I think, Koscielny.
“Also Mustafi is close to coming with us. We can take more injuries but we can also recover more players.”
Koscielny, having featured in three consecutive matches, was given a breather today, while Mustafi has a slight hamstring problem also wasn’t risked.