Arsenal have been left sweating over the fitness of Viktor Gyokeres, with the striker pushing to return from a hamstring injury against Tottenham Hotspur.
Gyokeres suffered a hamstring issue in the Gunners’ 2-0 win away at Burnley, and he was forced off at half-time.
During the win at Turf Moor, Gyokeres produced his best performance in an Arsenal shirt so far, which will have left Mikel Arteta gutted to have lost his new centre forward.
The 27-year-old is now pushing to be back available for the North London derby after the international break, and the Gunners have been assessing his chances of being fit in time.
Arsenal are hopeful Viktor Gyokeres will be fit to face Tottenham
Viktor Gyokeres is ‘touch and go’ to be back to face Tottenham, but Arsenal are ‘hopeful’ that he will be available for the clash, according to Charles Watts.
The former Sporting CP and Coventry City striker looked to be finally clicking at the Emirates Stadium, only for a muscular issue to halt his progress.
Arsenal Insider understands that behind the scenes, Gyokeres has been impressing the coaching staff, and there’s a sense he’s going to take the team to the next level.
But currently, it’s unclear whether the striker will be able to feature against the club’s bitter rivals on November 23.
Speaking about Gyokeres’ injury, Watts told SportsMole: “Yeah, Arsenal are, that’s the hope. I couldn’t say for certain that is definitely going to happen or not. Obviously, there are a lot of checks and tests to go through.
“It’s going to be close, that Tottenham game will be three weeks from Burnley, and best case scenario, a hamstring is kind of three weeks if it’s the very sort of lowest sort of grades or issues, so it’s going to be touch and go, but the hope is that he could well be involved.”
Alan Shearer praised Gyokeres’ work rate, and he could be a crucial player for Arteta’s team when facing a Thomas Frank Tottenham side who are going to sit deep.
Mikel Arteta faces Mikel Merino or Viktor Gyokeres dilemma versus Tottenham
Arteta is likely going to face a big dilemma between sticking by Mikel Merino or bringing Gyokeres straight back into the team.
During the 2-2 draw at Sunderland, the Spanish striker struggled as he failed to cope with the physicality of Dan Ballard and the Sunderland defence.
Frank could deploy a back three of Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Kevin Danso away at the Emirates, which means a bigger presence will be needed.
Gyokeres is the ideal candidate for this role, but Arteta, along with Arsenal’s medical team, will need to determine whether he is ready for that challenge.