Arsenal may have kept their Premier League title hopes alive with Tuesday’s victory over Fulham, but they’ve been left sweating over the fitness of two key players.
Gabriel Magalhaes had to come off within the first 15 minutes of the game at the Emirates Stadium after appearing to suffer a hamstring injury.
Jurrien Timber was also spotted struggling with an issue just half an hour into the game as he appeared in discomfort after trying to block a Raul Jimenez effort.
The Arsenal defender was initially able to continue but was taken off late on in the game, with Leandro Trossard coming on to replace him.
Tim Sherwood has now given his verdict on Gabriel’s injury, making an ominous claim ahead of Arsenal’s big Champions League quarter-final tie with Real Madrid.
Tim Sherwood says there’s ‘absolutely no chance’ Gabriel Magalhaes plays for Arsenal against Real Madrid
Sherwood believes Gabriel suffered a “long-term injury” to his hamstring in the win over Fulham.
The Sky Sports pundit also feels the Brazilian has “absolutely no chance” of featuring not only in the first leg against Real, but in the second leg too.
“It was all about getting (Bukayo) Saka fit and getting him ready for next Tuesday against Real Madrid,” Sherwood said on Soccer Special.
“Although on the other hand they did not want any injuries and they picked one up to a very important player in Gabriel, who popped his hamstring.
“It looked long term and he has absolutely no chance of the Real Madrid ties.”
What Mikel Arteta said about Gabriel Magalhaes and Jurrien Timber injuries
After the game, Arteta was asked what he knew about the severity of the injuries to Gabriel and Timber.
He replied: “We don’t know how they are going to be. We will be assessing them tomorrow.
Arteta added: “Two players in this team who never want to come off are those two.
“Jurrien was struggling very early in the game, he managed to continue and at some point he couldn’t. Jurrien was his knee.”
When asked whether he was concerned about Gabriel, he said: “Yes, because he never comes off.
“He felt something. We don’t know how big it is. We will assess him before the next games.”
Arsenal are next in action on Saturday when they head to Everton in the day’s early Premier League kick-off.
Arsenal then take on Real Madrid on Tuesday 8 April and Wednesday 16 April, with a Premier League game against Brentford in between.
