Arsenal left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko is unlikely to travel for the north London side’s trip to face Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League.
That is the opinion of journalist Charles Watts, who was giving an update on the latest news from the Emirates Stadium in his Tuesday YouTube video.
Zinchenko has had a mixed start to life at Arsenal, having tended to put in excellent performances when playing, but the 25-year-old has already missed six games this season through various injuries.
The £30m summer signing missed the side’s 3-2 victory over Liverpool on Sunday as the Gunners maintained their place at the top of the Premier League table after nine games.
And Watts doesn’t believe that Zinchenko will even travel for Arsenal’s fixture against Bodo/Glimt as they look to extend their 100% record in the Europa League.
He said: “I can’t imagine Zinchenko’s going to play.
“We know he’s struggling with injury, he wasn’t in the squad, he’s got a muscle problem.
“There’s no way they’re going to take him over on Thursday night and play him against Bodo, so it’s going to have to [be] someone else at left-back.”
TIF Thoughts on Watts’ comments…
We agree with Watts and struggle to foresee a situation in which Arteta feels it is sensible to make Zinchenko travel for their European tie in Norway, especially with a trip to Leeds United looming large on Sunday afternoon.
The club have got Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney at their disposal as alternative left-back options for the clash, so there is no reason the club would be dependent on the 52-time Ukraine international.
Therefore, we would be extremely surprised to see Zinchenko involved ahead of Thursday’s clash.