2 Arsenal stars miss training ahead of UEFA Champions League clash against RC Lens
Arsenal have suffered a blow ahead of their match against RC Lens, with Ben White and Fabio Vieira missing training. The Gunners host the Ligue 1 side at the Emirates and will be looking to seal their place in the next round.
James Benge was at the training session today and confirmed that Arteta was without the two players. White did not start in the win over Brentford on Saturday but came on as a substitute late in the match.
The Englishman missed the matches earlier this month, too, and Arteta provided an update. He said via Sky Sports:
“Yesterday in training he wasn’t comfortable. He didn’t look right. Ben won’t give you much. He always wants to be on the pitch and he wants to hide anything that is in there.
"We highlighted something happening there which we noticed in the last two weeks as well. We wanted to protect him today. It was the right call from the physios and the medical department and tomorrow we will assess him and understand what’s happening.”
Arsenal moved to the top of the table with the win over Brentford last weekend. They can seal their place at the top of their UEFA Champions League table with a win on Wednesday.
Arsenal not interested in selling Fabio Vieira despite interest
Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Arsenal are not interested in selling Fabio Vieira. The manager has revealed that he knows about the impact the Portuguese star can have, saying (via GOAL):
“We knew that Fabio would have a big impact, especially in the last few minutes, or final minutes if we needed something. Something has changed with Fabio, you notice with the crowd when he steps in he is different to how he was last year.
"He’s more mature, he’s more senior in the squad and his confidence in the squad is high so I’m really happy to have those options.”
Vieira has not been able to seal his place in the starting XI at the club. He has been playing as an impact substitute, and that has attracted interest from various clubs who see him as an instant starter.
Fabrizio Romano spoke about the interest on the CaughtOffside podcast and said:
“Marseille have been linked with an interest in signing Fabio Vieira on loan, but it’s too early to say on this one.”
Vieira has played 14 matches for Arsenal this season and scored twice. He has managed just 507 minutes and is now set for some time on the sidelines with a fresh injury.