Cristhian Mosquera will replace Gabriel Magalhaes in the Arsenal starting lineup when they host Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates on Sunday.

Arsenal will aim to stretch the gap at the top of the Premier League table when they welcome Tottenham Hotspur to the Emirates on Sunday evening. Mikel Arteta has new injury concerns to worry about ahead of his side’s latest fixture.

Gabriel Magalhaes is the latest absentee after picking up a hamstring injury during international duty for Brazil. The 27-year-old will be unavailable for at least one month and may remain in the treatment room for nearly two months. Arteta has also been sweating over Riccardo Calafiori’s fitness after the Italian international stayed with the Gunners during the break.

Meanwhile, Gabriel has joined Martin Odegaard, Noni Madueke, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli, and Viktor Gyokeres in the treatment room. During his pre-match press conference, Arteta provided fitness updates on Gabriel, Calafiori, and a few other players.

The Arsenal manager said, “Gabi unfortunately picked up an injury with the Brazil national team and he’s going to be out for weeks. We need to have another scan next Wednesday, and we’ll have the timeline probably much clearer than we have at the moment. It’s clearly a blow because he’s our leader in our backline and, to me, it’s never a positive thing. The good thing is that we have very good options and we need to stand up now and do the job.”

“He [Calafiori] wasn’t available [for the international break], he’s been carrying a few things and we had to bring him back. He hasn’t trained yet. Tomorrow we have another training session and we’ll see how he is.”

Arteta also discussed whether Odegaard, Madueke, Havertz, Martinelli, and Gyokeres are any closer to returning. The Arsenal manager said, “We’ve put in a lot of energy during the international break, with all the medical staff as well, to try to bring them as quickly as possible. So tomorrow we have another training session, see how some of them are feeling, whether it’s a bit too close for this game, or we feel that they can make a contribution in the game. So tomorrow we have more clarity.”

David Raya is an automatic pick between the sticks, with Arsenal lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday. The backline will feature Jurrien Timber, William Saliba, Cristhian Mosquera, and Riccardo Calafiori.

As for the midfield unit, there is no looking past Martin Zubimendi and Declan Rice in the double pivot. Eberechi Eze will reprise the no. 10 role, with Leandro Trossard and Bukayo Saka being the two wide attackers. Finally, Mikel Merino will lead the line for the home side in the North London Derby this weekend.

Predicted Liverpool XI: Raya; Timber, Saliba, Mosquera, Calafiori; Zubimendi, Rice; Saka, Eze, Trossard; Merino