Arsenal team news: Mesut Ozil could be ruled out of Manchester United tie with injury after missing training

Ozil has missed Arsenal's last two matches with a back injury

Jack Watson
Tuesday 04 December 2018 08:34 EST
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Manchester United v Arsenal: Premier League match preview

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Mesut Ozil is unlikely to be available to Arsenal’s Premier League trip to Manchester United on Wednesday.

The German midfielder was missing from Arsenal’s 4-2 win against north London rivals Tottenham and is set to be absent from another big fixture.

Ozil did not train with the first team on Monday as he continues to struggle with a back injury.

Unai Emery named Ozil on the bench for the Gunners’ match against Bournemouth but did not bring him on as the side overturned a 1-0 deficit to win the match and revealed he did not fit his preferred system on the day.

Speaking ahead of the Manchester United match, Emery said that Ozil’s back injury could keep him out for an unspecified amount of time. “I don’t know if he’s okay for Wednesday,” he said.

“He’s had a backache since last Tuesday. He couldn’t play in Kiev or Sunday. At the moment, I don’t know if he can play in Manchester.”

Mesut Ozil has struggled to establish himself under Unai Emery
Mesut Ozil has struggled to establish himself under Unai Emery (Getty)

Granit Xhaka is suspended after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season. Nacho Monreal, Konstantinos and Danny Welbeck remain sidelined with injuries.

Provisional squad to travel to Manchester United: Leno, Cech, Bellerin, Lichtsteiner, Holding, Mustafi, Papastathopoulos, Kolasinac, Maitland-Niles, Elneny, Torreira, Guendouzi, Ramsey, Smith Rowe, Iwobi, Mkhitaryan, Lacazette, Aubameyang, Nketiah.

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