Arsenal will host Lille in the Champions League at the Emirates on Tuesday, and the visitors will miss Tiago Santos because of an injury.
The French club suffered a 2-3 defeat to Real Betis while Arsenal sealed a 1-0 win over Napoli in the first group stage fixture.
Prior to the international break, the Premier League winners suffered a league defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion. The Gunners overcame that loss by securing a 2-1 win over Leeds United at the weekend.
The Ligue 1 side enter the Champions League clash after a 1-0 victory over Le Havre. They have only lost two matches this season, and the second was against OGC Nice in the league.
Injury blow prior to Arsenal clash
Tiago Santos has enjoyed a good run this season, starting in all seven matches, scoring two goals. At the weekend, he was stretchered off the pitch, following a tackle from Le Havre’s Amir Richardson.
The right-back has suffered a knee injury and will miss tomorrow’s clash against Mikel Arteta’s side.
L’Equipe states the 24-year-old Portuguese will undergo an MRI scan on Monday to find out the extent of the damage.
Santos joined Lille from Estoril in July 2023 and has already suffered a serious setback. In October 2024, he had a cruciate ligament tear and was out of action for 320 days.
While waiting for the test results, those close to him aren’t optimistic and ‘fear another rupture of his anterior cruciate ligament’. Even if the test results are positive, he’s unlikely to face Arsenal tomorrow.
Lille manager Davide Ancelotti has summer signing Loun Srdanovic as another right-back. He could make his debut for the French club against Mikel Arteta’s side.
Arsenal also have injury concerns
Gunners summer signing Christos Tzolis will miss the Champions League clash as he’s still recovering from a setback suffered during the international break.
At the weekend, Sport Witness covered a report from Ecuador explaining that Piero Hincapié could feature against Leeds United.
He came on to replace Riccardo Calafiori in the 82nd minute. After Arsenal’s latest win, the 24-year-old picked up an injury during the warm-down, and there are concerns he won’t feature again this season.
Tzolis and Hincapié join William Saliba in the north London club’s treatment room.
