Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has hinted that Brazilian defender Gabriel will replace the injured German defender Shkrodan Mustafi ahead of his side’s away clash with Everton on Tuesday night at Goodison Park in what would be week 16 of the ongoing English Premier League (EPL) season.
Mustafi has been involved in all of Arsenal’s league games since he made a £32m move to the North London side in the summer but will have to sit out tomorrow’s game after he suffered a hamstring injury, which will rule him out for the next 2-3 games, in the 3-1 win over Stoke City on Saturday evening at the Emirates Stadium.
On the other hand, Gabriel has been impressive since he started playing right back in the league game against Bournemouth last month and Wenger was adamant he would do a good job as stand-in skipper and vice-captain Laurent Koscielny’s partner at centre back.
Speaking on replacing Mustafi, Wenger said: “It is a challenge, because we had a good defensive stability but we have Gabriel, we have Holding, who can come in for him.
Overall, I am confident that both can do well, but that’s one of the tests we have. We have had many tests since the start of the season, players like Cazorla who have suddenly moved out of the team and we have managed to deal with it and that’s another challenge.
On Gabriel’s English, Wenger said: “I must say It’s still not perfect. But he’s wanting always to do well. He has adapted very well to the right-back position and I think it helped him to lift his level of confidence. Hopefully he can come in and do well.” he concluded.
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