Francis Coquelin's knee injury is not as bad as first feared, but the midfielder will be absent from the Champions League game against FC Basel at the Emirates on Wednesday. Arsene Wenger, though, has a strong squad to choose from, as Arsenal look to take their form from the 3-0 win over Chelsea at the weekend.
Coquelin was forced off on the half hour of the Premier League match against Chelsea after jarring his knee in a tackle with N'Golo Kante. The injury looked serious with the midfielder leaving the stadium with a brace on his knee, but Wenger revealed some positive news on Saturday, with Coquelin expected to return to training after the international weekend.
"He is out for the game (against Basel), but it should be a short-term injury because the scan was quite positive and I think it will be three weeks out," Wenger said.
"It's positive because last year during this period we got some bad news and a few long-term injuries and it was a handicap in our season. After you play always the same players and you lose a little bit of your edge physically. The fact is we have a compact squad, but of top quality, so to keep everybody together is a big plus."
Coquelin's place in midfield should be taken by Granit Xhaka, who plays against his former club and older brother Taulant. Another former Basel man – Mohamed Elneny – will also hope to feature. Wenger is expected to again go with Davis Ospina in goal, with Petr Cech on the bench.
Apart from Coquelin, Olivier Giroud will miss the match through suspension, with the France international striker a doubt for the Burnley game on Sunday as well as he struggles to overcome a niggle.
Danny Welbeck, Per Mertesacker and Aaron Ramsey remain unavailable as they recover from their respective injuries, and while Carl Jenkinson is back in training, this game might come too early for the right-back.
Basel do not have too many injury worries, with defender Manuel Akanji ruled out, while forward Marc Janko is a doubt with a knee problem.
Confirmed starting XI: Arsenal: Ospina; Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal; Granit Xhaka, Cazorla; Walcott, Ozil, Iwobi; Sanchez.
FC Basel: Vaclik; Lang, Suchy, Balanta, Traore; Taulant Xhaka, Zuffi; Bjarnason, Fransson, Steffen; Doumbia.
