Mikel Arteta is facing a defensive injury crisis ahead of Saturday's lunchtime trip to Everton and next week's UEFA Champions League quarter-final meeting with Real Madrid, with four defenders at risk of being ruled out of a crucial week of action.
Already without Ben White and Riccardo Calafiori going into Tuesday's match with Fulham, Arsenal lost Gabriel after just 16 minutes, while Jurrien Timber was also forced off in the second half of their 2-1 win.
Arsenal manager Arteta said: "The good thing is that it's been like this the whole season. How we have managed to be where we are with all those injuries.
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"Gabi felt something in his hamstring, we don't know how big that is, and with Jurrien as well he was already struggling very early in the game. He managed to continue and at some point he couldn't.
"We've lost four players in the defensive line in one week. Calafiori, Ben White, Jurrien and Gabi. We have still another four that are so willing that they will do their job. We want it so much that we're going to give it a real go and we are very excited for the next week."
Jakub Kiwior replaced Gabriel, while midfielder Thomas Partey moved to right-back when Timber went off.
Arsenal remain without another defender, Takehiro Tomiyasu, who has made one appearance this season back in October against Southampton, having undergone knee surgery in February to a problem sustained in pre-season.
How will Arsenal cope without Gabriel?
It is a huge loss for Arteta's side as the stats show Gabriel's importance to the team, with key metrics dipping when the defender is out.
The Brazilian has played 160 times in the Premier League, with the Gunners winning an impressive 63.7 per cent of those matches since his debut in 2020/21, while it drops to 40.9 per cent in his absence.
How Arsenal fare with/without Gabriel since 2020/21
| With Gabriel | Without Gabriel | |
| 160 | Matches | 22 |
|---|---|---|
| 102 | Wins | 9 |
| 25 | Draws | 6 |
| 33 | Losses | 7 |
| 1 | Average goals against | 1.2 |
| 2 | Average goals for | 1.6 |
| 63.7% | Win percentage | 40.9% |
| 2.1 | Points per match | 1.5 |
While those injuries will come as a huge blow to Arteta, he was able to include Bukayo Saka for the first time since December, and the winger marked his return with the winning goal.
"It was a beautiful reaction from our people to show him that love, respect and admiration and he fully deserves," Arteta said on the club's official website.
"His reaction straight away after scoring was to say thank you to all the sports scientists, physios and everyone who has participated in his recovery. It tells you who he is as a person, so it's impossible not to love him.
"He's trained with us for the last nine days, and he’s been impressive straight away.
"The problem that we put for him was very demanding by respecting the timeframes because we knew that the moment that we throw him in, he needs to be ready because it's the most important part of the season, so, I'm really pleased with that."
