Arsenal hit with fresh injury blow 24 hours before Newcastle United tie - £65m man 'a doubt'

The Gunners were already without Bukayo Saka, Raheem Sterling, Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu. Now boss Mikel Arteta has confirmed teenage sensation Ethan Nwaneri has been ruled out with a muscular injury.

The 17-year-old opened the scoring in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion but had to withdrawn at half-time. It looks Arteta short of right wing options.

“Unfortunately he’s picked up an injury and is going to be out for a few weeks,” said Arteta. ”He didn’t really know, he said: ‘I’m feeling something but I don’t really know, what is it?’

“He has earned the right to step up and play for us and now he starts to have some games, some big games as well, and impact those games which he’s done in different positions as well, so I’m gutted for him because it’s going to stop that a little bit.

“But it’s another step in that development phase that he’s in, but I’m really happy with the way he is going.”

Similar to Tottenham Hotspur, who United beat 2-1 on Saturday, some members of Arsenal’s squad have been hit with illness. That forced Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz to miss the visit to Brighton.

Both players are expected to return tonight but Arteta was reluctant to provide an update on Havertz: “I hope so but I don’t want to say yes because last time I said I thought he was going to be fit and he wasn’t fit,” said the Spaniard.

Meanwhile, Newcastle will be without Bruno Guimaraes and Fabian Schar through suspension. Sven Botman and Anthony Gordon are expected to be available, despite needing to come off against Spurs.