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Arsenal defender Cedric Soares has reportedly joined the club's ever-growing injury list ahead of the north London derby this weekend (October 1) against Tottenham Hotspur.
According to Football.London, the right-back has picked up a knock that will keep him out for two weeks. Cedric had only just returned from an injury lay-off which kept him out of the games against Brentford and FC Zurich before the international break.
The 31-year-old defender is yet to play a minute this season due to relentless injury problems, having played 26 times last term.
Cedric has faced increased competition at right-back with the likes of Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu. This will make it difficult for Cedric to get game time even when he returns to full fitness.
The Portugal international has joined an increasingly worrying injury list, with Mikel Arteta having several other first-team players potentially miss Saturday's derby.
Thomas Partey, Oleksandr Zichenko and Emile Smith Rowe are all doubts for the game, with the latter two missing from the 3-0 win over Brentford. Meanwhile, Kieran Tierney returned early from international duty after suffering a knock.
Pundit urges Arsenal to sign Thomas Partey replacement in January
Gabby Agbonlahor has dubbed it strange that Arsenal didn't sign another central midfielder in the summer. Partey has suffered numerous injury problems during his time at the Emirates Stadium since joining from Atletico Madrid in 2020.
Meanwhile, Granit Xhaka has a history of suspensions.
That leaves Albert Sambi Lokonga and Mohamed Elneny as options in midfield.
Former England forward Agbonlahor believes Arsenal's lack of midfield signings could come back to cost them, as he told Football Insider:
“Yes. Arsenal might look in January and think, ‘you know what, we’re third in the league, we’re second in the league, we’ve got a really good chance this season of finishing in the top four’ and they will have to go out and get one."
He added:
“Their fans were very upset at the end of the window when they didn’t get one. Thomas Partey is always getting injuries, he’s very injury prone. Xhaka’s been outstanding, Lokonga is still up and coming but they need one more."
Agbonlahor believes that Arsenal will need to sign a midfielder in the January transfer window. He said:
“It was strange that they didn’t fill that position. Especially when they know Thomas Partey is not going to play a lot of games this season because he’s always injured. They need to definitely get one in during the January window.”
