Newcastle United boost as Mikel Arteta details Arsenal’s injury crisis after Tottenham defeat

Mikel Arteta hopes Ben White and Gabriel are fit to face Newcastle United on Monday, despite the latter’s withdrawal against Tottenham Hotspur.

The Gunners missed the opportunity to confirm fourth spot in the Premier League after losing to bitter rivals Spurs 3-0 on Thursday evening.

Instead, the race for Champions League qualification is wide open with Tottenham now just a point behind Arsenal with two games of the season remaining.

And ahead of their visit to St James’ Park in three days’ time, Arteta is dealing with the prospect of a defensive crisis.

Rob Holding was sent off in the 33rd minute after a second yellow was shown for a challenge on Son Heung-min. Then, with a quarter of an hour remaining, Gabriel limped off with a hamstring problem.

With the only other recognised central defender White not risked from the bench, Arsenal ended the night with full-backs Cedric Soares and Takehiro Tomiyasu as their centre-back pairing.

White is in line to return against Newcastle but Arteta is sweating over Gabriel’s fitness.

Arteta said: “It’s a muscular problem, and we’ll have to assess him.

“Gabi is normally not a player who wants to or asks to come off the pitch, he felt something and hopefully it’s not much, because having Rob out and Ben with no training sessions, obviously we are really short in that position.”

Arsenal are already without Kieran Tierney and Thomas Partey for the remainder of the campaign.

Newcastle, who are now mathematically safe from Premier League relegation, are looking to end the season on a high on their final home game of 2021/22.