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As per a report released by the Ukraine Football Association, left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko has suffered a calf injury which is set to sideline him from the upcoming Nations League matches against Scotland and Armenia. The 25-year-old has already missed two matches for the Gunners this season because of a knee sprain in training but played in the most recent games against Manchester United and FC Zurich.
The former Manchester City player suffered his injury at the London Colney in Hertfordshire. Hence he will probably be sidelined for Sunday’s away game against Brentford. It is reported that the Ukrainian full-back will need two weeks to recover. But if the recovery takes longer than that, Zinchenko could be missing the North London derby on 1 October.
“Oleksandr Zinchenko will not be able to help the blue and yellow during the September matches in the UEFA Nations League,” confirmed the Ukrainian FA on Friday.
“The Arsenal player suffered a calf muscle injury during training at the club which will require two weeks for treatment and recovery. Oleksandr immediately personally informed the head coach of the Ukrainian national team, Oleksandr Petrakov, of the unfortunate news by calling him. We wish Sashka a speedy recovery.”
Ukraine will be playing three matches against Scotland (twice) and Armenia, but Zinchenko will play no part in those games now. For the Premier League clash against the Bees on Sunday, Kieran Tierney will be set to replace him in the playing XI. Mikel Arteta is already dealing with other injuries going into that match, as Mohamed Elneny is still sidelined and Thomas Partey is also a doubt.
The Ukraine squad for Nations League:
Goalkeepers: Dmytro Riznyk Andriy Lunin, Anatoliy Trubin, Yevhen Volynets.
Defenders: Oleksandr Karavaev, Oleksandr Tymchyk, Illia Zabarnyi, Mykola Matvyienko, Serhiy Kryvtsov, Valeriy Bondar, Bohdan Mykhailychenko, Vitaliy Mykolenko , Taras Kacharaba, Eduard Sobol.
Midfielders: Taras Stepanenko, Mykhailo Mudryk, Oleksandr Zubkov, Serhiy Sydorchuk, Viktor Tsygankov. Oleksandr Pikhalyonok, Andriy Yarmolenko, Ruslan Malinovskyi, Viktor Kovalenko, Danylo Ignatenko.
Forwards: Roman Yaremchuk, Artem Dovbyk.
Reserve: Artem Besedin, Oleksiy Hutsulyak, Eduard Sarapiy, Yehor Nazaryna
