Everything was not smiles and sunshine for Arsenal last night during the 1-3 victory over West Ham United.
Yes, it ended their 9-game winless streak and gave them a much-needed morale boost but it also brought injury troubles.
Before the match, we saw Hector Bellerin get removed from the starting lineup after suffering a hamstring injury in warmup. The Spaniard had to watch the game from the bleechers as Ainsley Maitland-Niles replaced him at right-back.
On the other flank, Kieran Tierney made his return after missing the start of the season with a hip injury. The Scotsman was already carrying a shoulder injury and a clash with Michael Antonio only aggravated it further, taking him out of the game in the first half.
Both the Arsenal fullbacks will be assessed ahead of their trip to Belgium for the Europa League group stage clash against Standard Liege. Freddie Ljungberg will be hoping that the latest round of injuries isn’t that serious.
Arsenal are already struggling defensively and it would be catastrophic to lose two key players in this transitional phase. Ljungberg is trying to find the right balance of players with a fixed starting lineup. He finally might have found it after last night’s comeback win against the Hammers. However, having Bellerin on both ends as cover could complete the side.
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