Trossard, Jesus, Nketiah: Arsenal injury news and return dates ahead of Sporting

Arsenal will be upping preparations today for their Europa League first leg last-16 clash against Sporting CP that will be contested in Portugal on Thursday.

The Gunners head into the game off the back of an incredible comeback victory against Bournemouth that saw their gap at the top of the Premier League table to Manchester City remain at five points. Despite a memorable winner from Reiss Nelson, there are some negatives coming out of the clash as two attackers are injury doubts for the clash.

Eddie Nketiah missed out from the matchday squad entirely over the weekend with a knock, while Leandro Trossard was subbed off in the first half through injury. Arsenal will therefore make late decisions over whether or not to include the duo on Thursday night.

READ MORE: Mikel Arteta ‘predicted’ Liverpool vs Man Utd score as Arsenal photo emerges before Nelson drama

With that said, football.london has compiled all the latest news and updates on the Arsenal players dealing with injuries ahead of their European meeting with Sporting CP later this week.

Leandro Trossard

Trossard appeared to have picked up some kind of knock before signalling to the coaching staff that he could no longer continue and he was eventually substituted for Emile Smith Rowe in the 22nd minute.

The early prognosis on Trossard’s injury is that it is not thought to be serious, football.london understands.

What Arteta has said: “It is a worry, he came to me straight away and said he couldn’t continue, he’d felt something when he was tracking back, so we had to take him off”, the Spaniard said when asked what had happened to the talented attacker. “We’ll assess him and see how he is.”

Expected return date: N/A

Eddie Nketiah

Eddie Nketiah had found himself on the bench for recent wins over Leicester and Everton following a slight drop in form. Arsenal boss Arteta then confirmed after his substitute appearance against the Toffees that the young striker had suffered with a slight injury concern.

Arsenal will make a late decision in the coming days as to whether to take him to Lisbon or not.

What Arteta has said: “We are assessing him,” the Spaniard said in his pre-match press conference. “It’s a bit uncertain what will happen with him to be honest in the training sessions.

“Let’s see, let’s keep the options open. He’s very positive about it and hopefully he’ll be fine.”

Expected return date: Sporting (A) – March 9

Jorginho

Jorginho started the aforementioned win over Everton ahead of Thomas Partey, although he made way for the former Atletico Madrid man at half-time, with Arteta confirming that the Italian international wasn’t feeling 100 per cent after the full-time whistle.

However, he was named on the bench for the win over Bournemouth on Saturday so should be fully fit to start on Thursday if needed.

What Arteta has said: “Jorgi’s [Jorginho] is fine. He had an illness and he put in a great shift but we decided to…