Mikel Arteta says Arsenal will have to wait to hear on the severity of Gabriel and Jurrien Timber’s double injury blow.
Both defenders were forced off for the Gunners during their 2-1 win against Fulham on Tuesday night.
With less than 15 minutes played, Gabriel was seen holding the back of his leg with what appeared to be a hamstring injury.
He waved his hand in the air multiple times to signal his injury before sitting on the pitch with a pained expression and being substituted.
Timber received treatment for an injury in the first half and went down again in the second to spark another substitution for Arsenal.
Jakub Kiwior and Leandro Trossard replaced the pair respectively, with Arteta now waiting to hear the extent of their injuries.
“We don’t know how they’re going to be. We will be assessing them tomorrow,” he said in his post-match press conference.
Arteta added: “Gabi felt something in his hamstring. We don’t know how big that is.
“With Jurrien he was already struggling early. He couldn’t continue.”
Speaking on Gabriel’s injury during commentary for talkSPORT, former West Ham striker Dean Ashton said: “It’s a massive blow.
“He and [William] Saliba are the best defence in the Premier League… his threat from set pieces as well.
“I’d hate to have to play against Adama Traore and clearly it was too much for Gabriel when he turned.”
Teammate Declan Rice is hopeful Gabriel’s injury isn’t as severe as first though.
“I don’t know what’s happened, I hope he’s okay because he’s been arguably our best player this season and we need him for big matches and big occasions,” he told Sky Sports afterwards.
Whilst Arsenal’s Premier League title hopes are faint, the injuries are very untimely with the Gunners facing Real Madrid in the Champions League next week.
Arsenal play host to Los Blancos next Tuesday before going to the Bernabeu eight days later for their quarter-final tie.
A Premier League trip to a rejuvenated Everton comes before then on Saturday though, live on talkSPORT.
Gabriel and Timber could join teammates including Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus on Arsenal’s list of long-term absences.
Takehiro Tomiyasu and Riccardo Calafiori have also struggled with fitness throughout the season, with Arsenal losing grip on top spot.
Despite the early injury to Gabriel, the Gunners opened the scoring later in the first half through Mikel Merino’s deflected effort.
Bukayo Saka, who came off the bench to make his first appearance since December due to a hamstring injury, then added their second.
Rodrigo Muniz netted in stoppage-time for Fulham but they were unable to pull off the comeback and take a point from the match.
