Arsenal face a stiff challenge against Brighton & Hove Albion in their second Premier League match of 2025. They will also face trouble in the right-back position with a new update coming in on the status of injured full-back Ben White.
Arsenal Receive Positive Injury Update On Ben White
What Did Mikel Arteta Say About White?
The Gunners have missed the English defender since November (2024) as he had to undergo a knee operation to fix an issue plaguing him for a long time. Mikel Arteta has now delivered an update on White’s condition and when he can be expected to return, stating: “Ben is still a few weeks away. It might be a possibility (that he returns in January) but he hasn’t done anything yet with the team.
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“The knee looks good, he has reacted really well the first few weeks, everything going smoothly and now he needs to start to load in that knee and needs to start to get through many more things that up till now he hasn’t been able to do but hopefully, he’s good. His work ethic is unbelievable, naturally he’s a very gifted player so I’m very positive that we’re going to have him quite early but I don’t know when.”
Arsenal Face Right-Back Crisis Against Brighton
Arteta also delivered an update on Japanese defender Takehiro Tomiyasu, who has suffered with injury issues for quite some time now. He stated: “Tomi has done some stuff on the pitch but it was a long-term injury and we need to see how quickly he can progress, and how that knee reacts. But hopefully (he) will be good.”
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The problem for Arsenal is that they will have a lack of quality right-back options against Brighton. Jurrien Timber is suspended for the match after picking up his fifth booking of the 2024/25 Premier League season in their recent win over Brentford. Arteta might be forced to play Thomas Partey as a right-back against the Seagulls or even play Riccardo Calafiori in that role. He’ll be hopeful that White, who is rumoured to be earning £150,000-a-week wages at the club, makes a swift return for Arsenal after only making 12 appearances this season.
