Arsenal are set to host Leeds United in their first home game of the Premier League season, where they will be without Kai Havertz.

Arsenal kick-started their Premier League campaign with a narrow but important win at Old Trafford against Manchester United. The Gunners are now set to open their home account by hosting Leeds United, and they are already without a few key stars for this fixture.

During his pre-match press conference, Mikel Arteta updated on Kai Havertz’s injury situation while staying coy on the Eberechi Eze move. The Gunners boss also cast doubts on Ben White’s participation but ruled out Christian Norgaard from the encounter altogether.

Ben White came off against Manchester United and was absent from their recent open training session at the Emirates. Norgaard missed the clash with Manchester United, probably after picking up a late problem as he was part of the travelling squad. Arteta provided his updates on the duo, ruling out the latter and casting doubts on the defender.

Arteta said, “Christian won’t be in the squad. With Ben, let’s see how he reacts and what we decide. Christian will be out for another week or so.”

The big news that came out on Wednesday was a serious knee injury sustained by Havertz. The timeline of the German attacker’s absence remains unclear, and Arteta barely provided any timeline.

Arteta said, “He’s certainly not fit for this match. Unfortunately, he picked up an injury. We don’t really know yet the extent of it, I think we need a bit more time and some more tests, and after that we will have more clarity about the next steps.”

When asked further on how long Havertz might miss out, Arteta refused to place a timeline on the issue, while insisting the problem needs further probing. Arteta continued, “I prefer not to talk about the specifics, but he’s not fit, as I said. We need to explore that issue a little bit further and decide what we’re going to do.”

“I don’t know, the worst scenario is that he cannot play tomorrow, I would love to have him fresh and available, bringing what he brings to the team, but unfortunately, that is not going to be possible.”

Beyond that, Arteta is not expected to make too many changes to the lineup compared to the eleven players that started at Old Trafford. Jurrien Timber might be the only change to the setting from the opening game, and the Dutchman is expected to replace Ben White at right-back.

Riccardo Calafiori will start in the left-back slot while William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes retain their central defensive partnership. Martin Zubimendi and Declan Rice will once again form a double pivot in central midfield as opposed to a three-man unit Arteta used to deploy last season.

Hence, Martin Odegaard is very much expected to feature in the advanced midfield role, with Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli flanking the club captain on either side. Viktor Gyokeres will lead the line and will certainly hope to open his Premier League account at the Emirates.

Predicted Lineup (4-2-3-1): Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Zubimendi, Rice; Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli; Gyokeres