Vivianne Miedema returned early from the international break with the Netherlands this week; Victoria Pelova, Leah Williamson and Katie McCabe are all "progressing well" and could feature this weekend; Arsenal face rivals Tottenham on Sunday in the Women's Super League
Friday 1 March 2024 12:43, UK
Arsenal striker Vivianne Miedema requires minor knee surgery and will miss "several weeks" of action, according to manager Jonas Eidevall.
Miedema and team-mate Victoria Pelova returned early from the international break with the Netherlands ahead of their Nations League third-place play-off match with Germany on Wednesday.
Arsenal face rivals Tottenham on Sunday in the Women's Super League and speaking in his pre-match press conference, Eidevall revealed it wasn't good news for Miedema.
"She requires a minor knee surgery and that is going to have her off the pitch for several weeks," he said.
"We will have an update on that after the surgery and when we see how she is progressing."
Miedema started in the Netherlands' defeat to Spain last Friday but that was not a contributing factor in needing surgery.
"She didn't need the surgery because of the 45 minutes she played against Spain," said Eidevall.
"It was nothing that the Dutch team did that complicated this or made the situation worse, it was a situation that needed to be fixed anyway."
"We have good communication with all the national teams that we work with," he added. "But we also have to have a lot of respect for the autonomy in the decision-making and the Netherlands were playing some really, really important games for them - both for a Nations League trophy and maybe, more importantly, for Olympic qualification.
"They also need to take the decisions that are best for them. What is important in all these conversations is that I always think that we put the player in the forefront and we are trying to find solutions that are the best for the player, and we need to cooperate."
However, Eidevall said Pelova, Leah Williamson and Katie McCabe are all "progressing well" and could feature on Sunday.
McCabe was substituted in the Republic of Ireland's midweek defeat to Wales due to a quad strain, while a hamstring injury forced Williamson to miss Arsenal's win over Manchester United in their last match before the international break.
Arsenal will be without defender Amanda Ilestedt, who missed the United game and international break due to illness.
Eidevall also provided an update on Lina Hurtig saying: "There's not any clarity on [her] injury, which makes a potential return to football hard to predict. Potentially no return this season, but we will see.
Arsenal are currently three points behind champions Chelsea with eight matches left to play as the WSL title race heads towards its conclusion.
The Gunners also face Aston Villa in the semi-finals of the League Cup next week, meaning Miedema could be absent for some crucial fixtures ahead of the April international break...
Sky Sports' Laura Hunter:
Arsenal looked close to infallible against Chelsea in December, winning 4-1, before losing the north London derby to Spurs a week later. At times, performances have been delightful and at others desperate.
The Gunners have already amassed three league defeats this term and no side with the same record has ever gone on to win the title. But records exist to be broken, and Arsenal have become pretty good at breaking, nay shattering, them.
They tightened their grip on a return to the Champions League with a 3-1 victory over Manchester United in front of an Emirates sell-out in February, a result that put them back in the title hunt.
Eidevall made six bold changes for that game, dropping a few big names, and it paid off in spades. The fact he is able to do that is symptomatic of what has improved at Arsenal this season: strength in depth.
Injuries ravaged Eidevall's side last year and it cost big. They simply didn't have the players in reserve to replace the losses of Beth Mead, Miedema, Leah Williamson and captain Kim Little all in the same period.
Now, that has changed and expectations have risen as a result.
The only criticism to be levelled at Arsenal this season is a lack of goals. They've struggled to be clinical and kill games when they've had the chance. Big summer signing Alessia Russo was dropped to the bench against United, for example, as Eidevall searched for a more potent combination up top.
All eyes on a big meeting with Chelsea in mid-March, and a trip to Man City in early May - two season-defining fixtures for the trophy-starved Gunners. Oh, and there's a north London Derby this weekend too, just for good measure.
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