Arsenal Injury Worries

With the Liverpool game less than three weeks away, there are a couple of injury/fitness issues that the Gunners are facing ahead of that game.

Nicklas Bendtner’s groin injury has not healed and Wenger has already said that Bendtner will not be available for the start of the season.

Denilson and Abou Diaby are both expected to be fit for Arsenal’s final pre-season match, against Legia Warsaw on August 7. “Denilson should be [fit] – maybe not for the Emirates Cup but for the Warsaw game and Diaby as well,” Wenger added on Arsenal.com.

Johan Djourou suffered a hamstring injury in Arsenal’s 4-0 win over SC Neusiedl, while Tomas Rosicky missed the match with a groin problem. But Wenger eased concerns over both players, saying:

“Djourou has a small hamstring problem but it is not bad. Rosicky had a small, small alert. He was supposed to play in the first half. He could have played. I didn’t want to take the gamble.”

The last concern is the fitness of Fabregas and van Persie. According to Wenger:

“Fabregas and Van Persie are due to come back on August 5 and from then on we will see how much build-up work is needed physically and as well how they have recovered mentally from the World Cup. They might be short for the first game [of the season] but I don’t know, that will depend on the fitness work they have done during the holiday.”