Is Oleksandr Zinchenko injured again?

Arsenal are loving life out in Dubai as they began their warm-weather training camp with an emphatic 3-0 victory over Lyon which culminated in a penalty shootout victory.

The Gunners’ first-half display, in which Gabriel, Eddie Nketiah and Fabio Vieira got on the scoresheet, was nothing short of joyous and the performance was a timely reminder of what supporters have been missing out on.

Mikel Arteta handed senior minutes to a whole host of academy stars in the second period, and the kids did an admirable job of holding onto the three goal advantage. 

Such victories are important in retaining the momentum built up during the first half of the season, but there’s no doubt that the second half of the 2022/23 campaign is going to be a slog. Gabriel Jesus is poised to miss a prolonged period after undergoing knee surgery, while there were fears that Oleksandr Zinchenko had picked up another injury as he could only watch Arsenal’s win over Lyon from the sidelines.

Is Oleksandr Zinchenko injured again?

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Zinchenko has played a crucial role in Arsenal’s early success this season after joining from Manchester City in the summer, but he’s already missed 12 games as a result of two injuries.

After a knee issue saw him miss two games at the start of the season, Zinchenko then picked up a calf injury which kept him out of action for six weeks before returning at the start of November.

So when he was spotted on the sidelines last Thursday, some feared that the Ukrainian had sustained yet another setback. However, Connor Humm reports that the versatile left-back should be good to go when Arsenal host West Ham on Boxing Day.

Zinchenko reportedly missed the Dubai Super Cup opener due to muscle tightness but he has been training with the squad.

Arteta is clearly being careful with his full-back, who is imperative to ensuring the manager’s ideals translate onto the field. The Spaniard’s caution might mean Zinchenko won’t feature in Arsenal’s next two friendlies against AC Milan and Juventus, but the Emirates faithful should see him line up against the Hammers on Boxing Day.