Mikel Arteta hints at major Arsenal injury boosts in Premier League title race

View 2 Images

Mikel Arteta has suggested a couple of Arsenal 's injured players could return to play a crucial role in the Premier League run-in and the Champions League final - but Ben White will be out for some time.

Arsenal head into Monday's clash with Burnley at the Emirates with the chance to put one hand on the Premier League title. A win for the Gunners - and a defeat for rivals Manchester City on Tuesday against Bournemouth - would see Arteta's side officially crowned as champions.

However, a draw or a defeat would see the door left open to Pep Guardiola and his charges ahead of a dramatic final day. City cut the gap to Arsenal to just two points on Tuesday evening with a 3-0 win against Crystal Palace.

Arsenal have been hit with a number of blows before Monday's showdown. Defender Ben White is set to miss the rest of the campaign, as well as the World Cup, and joins Mikel Merino on the sidelines.

Fellow defenders Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori have also been struggling with their own issues over recent weeks. But it appears that they could potentially return soon, albeit White has been ruled out long-term by Arteta.

FOLLOW OUR ARSENAL FB PAGE! Latest Gunners news and more on our dedicated Facebook page

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, the Arsenal boss said: "Not much at the moment, we have a few days till Monday, so we will have to see.

"We lost Ben the other day, the others are coming back as well. So enthusiastic so positive. It looks like a long term injury [for White]. At the moment the focus is when can we have him back, that is not going to happen in many many weeks."

On Calafiori and Timber specifically, he added: "No we don't know if he's [Calafiori] going to be available, we have days ahead, hopefully it is nothing serious. He [Timber] has progressed a little bit in the last few days. We will try to prepare Jurrien Timber for participation in the UEFA Champions League final.

"He is doing his utmost and intensifying his training. He is a really important player for us and he's doing everything he can to help the squad in any way possible."

View 2 Images

Should each of the three defenders be ruled out, that could see Arsenal without a recognised right-back against Burnley. But Arteta has vowed to find a solution.

He said: "There are different options in relation to the opponent and what we want to do with certain players. We need to be open not just to one but two or three players."

Following the clash with Burnley , Arteta will then turn his attention to a last day clash with Palace. They then have a week to prepare for the Champions League final against French giants Paris Saint-Germain.

Sky has upgraded its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundle to now include HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu, as well as 135 channels and full Sky coverage of the Premier League and EFL.