Arsenal are facing a defensive crisis ahead of the weekend's Premier League meeting with Newcastle United.
Central defender Laurent Koscielny could miss a third straight match with an ongoing Achilles problem while left-back Nacho Monreal is battling a knee injury which has seen him sidelined for the past two matches as well.
The Gunners host the high-flying Magpies at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday and could go into the crunch fixture with Per Mertesacker as their only recognised centre-back following the suspension received by Calum Chambers for his red card in the weekend's 3-2 loss at Stoke City.
It is believed that France international Koscielny could be given more time to get over his troublesome injury ahead of the heavy Christmas period as Arsene Wenger's side look to bounce back from the horror show at Stoke by taking down Alan Pardew's Toon who became the first side to beat league leaders Chelsea this past weekend.
