That Arsenal injury crisis bug has hit again. Every time things start to look hunky dory for Arsenal, injuries come to the fore. And they have done so, with Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – Arsene Wenger's two options on the right of midfield, after Aaron Ramsey's hamstring struck one more time – set to miss the next three games, at the very least.
Oxlade-Chamberlain started Arsenal's Capital One Cup defeat to Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday, only to be forced off early with a hamstring injury.
Arsene Wenger brought on Walcott as the midfielder's replacement, and soon enough, the England forward was seen holding his calf. Walcott tried to run off the injury, but it became clear that would not be possible, forcing the Arsenal manager to make two substitutions within the first 20 minutes.
While Arsenal have not mentioned the extent of their injuries – Wenger revealed at least 48 hours will be needed before a scan is done – reports from England suggest, the two players will be out until the end of the next international week, at least.
That means both Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain will miss the Premier League game against Swansea on Saturday, the crucial Champions League game at Bayern Munich on Wednesday and then the North London derby against Tottenham on Sunday week.
According to the BBC Sport, Walcott's calf injury is reportedly a little more serious than Oxlade-Chamberlain's hamstring problem, and taking into consideration Arsenal's previous issues with player recovery – even with a revamp in that particular department – it wouldn't be too surprising if Walcott ends up missing more games.
If the diagnosis is given on Thursday, Wenger will, obviously, not expect Roy Hodgson to call-up the two England internationals for the friendly games against Spain and France in mid-November either.
With Ramsey, Danny Welbeck, Jack Wilshere, Tomas Rosicky and David Ospina all still missing, Wenger will certainly hope both Walcott, who has been outstanding this season, and Oxlade-Chamberlain return as soon as possible, because, otherwise, this could just prove to be another Arsenal-might-just-win-the-title false dawn.
