Five players will miss Arsenal vs Nottingham Forest as Mikel Arteta issues major injury update

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Mikel Arteta and Nuno Espirito Santo are both expected to miss some big names this weekend. Arsenal will host Nottingham Forest at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday afternoon as both sides look to climb the Premier League table.

The Gunners have pocketed just five points from their last five games in the English top-flight, with their only victory coming against Southampton at the start of last month. They've dropped to fourth, falling nine-points behind Liverpool in the title race.

The North Londoners have struggled to impress lately, so Forest will be looking to pile on the misery. So, with that being said, football.london has looked at who could miss the clash from either side.

Arsenal

Ben White

Ben White underwent a minor procedure last week to resolve a joint problem that had been causing him problems, football.london understands. Speaking to reporters on Friday, Arteta confirmed that the defender is going to be ruled out for 'months'.

"Ben is gonna be out for months, unfortunately," said the Arsenal boss. "It's been different kinds of struggles. It's never been the same thing. We had to make a decision. It's not been improving in the last few weeks unfortunately.

"We know that Ben is going to push every boundary but it got to a point where we have to protect the player and we decided to do the surgery. He agreed with that and unfortunately that's going to keep him out for a few months."

When pushed for an exact timeframe on White's absence, Arteta replied: "I don't know at the moment. We have to see how he reacts post-surgery. I don't expect him to be half a year, but I cannot tell you exactly."

Kieran Tierney

Kieran Tierney suffered a hamstring injury at the European Championships in the summer. When asked for an update on the defender's progress, Arteta said: "Kieran not yet. He had a couple of sessions with the team, but not ready yet."

Takehiro Tomiyasu

Takehiro Tomiyasu remains out of action with a knee injury. The defender missed the large majority of last season with a calf problem and he's played just six minutes this term. On Friday, Arteta said: "Tomiyasu is going to be out as well for a period."

Forest

Danilo

Nuno has revealed that Danilo is 'close' to making a return from injury after suffering a broken toe on the opening day of the season. The Forest boss told ESPN Brazil that the midfielder is making good progress on his road to recovery, though he won't be ready to face Arsenal.

"He's close to returning. Now we need to give him time to recover from the injury itself and then increase his fitness levels so he can return. But the process is going well," said Nuno. "We need to be patient, understand that it's a traumatic injury that will require some more time on the field.

"A huge loss, it was a very tough time to lose Danilo in the first game. But he's positive, he's a very special kid. He had the opportunity to be in Brazil (as part of his recovery). He works 14 hours a day on his recovery, he doesn't leave anything aside in his recovery and that's a big advantage."

Ibrahim Sangare

Ibrahim Sangare has been sidelined with a hamstring injury since September, and he's since had surgery. Speaking to reporters ahead of the Arsenal clash, Nuno confirmed that the Ivorian and Danilo are the only absentees.

"Those two are definitely out and cannot be involved," said the Forest boss, as quoted by the NottinghamPost. "We have some other situations to manage and decide. We still have Sosa to arrive, because he plays later.

"The rest of them are here - and, for now, OK. We are just managing some players and some situations. As we mentioned before, we took the chance of this international break to recover some players. Let’s wait and see if they improve."

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