“We are losing this” - Arsenal fans taken by surprise as key player unexpectedly misses Fulham game

Arsenal fans have been rocked by the news that both Oleksandr Zinchenko and Thomas Partey will miss their home clash with Fulham through injury.

The Gunners have won all three of their Premier League games against Crystal Palace, Leicester City, and Bournemouth. Arteta has named an unchanged starting XI for all of his games so far, as his side have looked extremely impressive so far.

However, the Spaniard has been forced into his first two changes of the campaign, as Mohamed Elneny and Kieran Tierney come into the side.

According to Arsenal's official Twitter page, Zinchenko has been left out as a precaution due to a sprained left knee. Meanwhile, Partey has been omitted after suffering a tight right thigh in training on Friday.

🇺🇦 Oleksandr Zinchenko is left out as a precaution due to a slight sprain to left knee

🇬🇭 Thomas Partey misses out due to a tight right thigh from Friday’s training session

Both will continue to be assessed | #ARSFUL https://t.co/M4S4CMPkkb

While Partey's absence is undoubtedly a huge blow for the north London side, fans appear more concerned at the lack of Zinchenko in the starting XI.

The Ukrainian has been in exceptional form since his summer arrival from Manchester City and has slotted seamlessly into Arteta's side at left-back.

Before their London derby against Fulham, Gunners fans took to Twitter to express their disappointment at the news that Zinchenko would miss the clash at the Emirates Stadium:

🔴 Introducing our starting XI…

🇫🇷 William Saliba in defence
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 @KieranTierney1 returns
🇧🇷 @GabrielJesus9 starts

#️⃣ #ARSFUL https://t.co/mg2UpNkIQC

@irsadsson @Arsenal @kierantierney1 @gabrieljesus9 Zinny is not even in the bench 😱😱

@Arsenal @kierantierney1 @gabrieljesus9 Where is zinchenko?? We are losing this

@Arsenal @kierantierney1 @gabrieljesus9 Both Partey and Zinchenko out? Did we hit rocks yesterday in training?

@Arsenal @kierantierney1 @gabrieljesus9 ZINNY TAKE MY KNEE

@Arsenal @kierantierney1 @gabrieljesus9 Sorry where is zinchenko

Oleksandr Zinchenko delighted with Arsenal's start this season

The Gunners enjoyed an excellent pre-season on and off the pitch, with Zinchenko's former Manchester City teammate Gabriel Jesus on fire.

Speaking after the win at Bournemouth, the Ukrainian international claimed he was delighted with the way his new side had kicked off their season.

The full-back told Arsenal's official website:

“It’s a great feeling to get three points and we don’t concede a goal. It’s always important to score in the beginning of the game because this first goal can give you some confidence to control the game and that’s what we did. We did well, especially in the first half, the opponent didn’t create anything - they had zero shots on target.

He further continued:

“In the second half they started to play with three at the back and we were suffering at some points, but in the end we didn’t concede, that’s the most important thing. There are still a lot of things to improve, but I think we are on the right way.”

Incoming call: Matchday 📞 https://t.co/d2acktQtqF

The 25-year-old added:

“It’s just the beginning of the season. There’s a lot of games ahead of us, there’s a lot of things to improve, but we just need to be focused on the next one, the next one, the next one."