Mesut Ozil will miss the visit of Huddersfield to the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday with the illness that ruled him out of the 1-0 win at Burnley, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has confirmed.
Ozil travelled with the rest of the squad but was sent back to London this morning after waking up with an illness that forced Arsenal to draft in Ainsley Maitland-Niles as a last minute addition to the substitutes bench.
The playmaker, whose combination play with Alexis Sanchez and Alexandre Lacazette had been hugely encouraging in recent games, will also not be available for Arsenal’s midweek fixture, with the visit of Manchester United at the Emirates now Wenger’s target for Ozil’s recovery.
“I haven’t even seen him,” Wenger said of Ozil. “The doctor came to see me and said he had to travel back home, he was in the hotel with us.
“He travelled up with us, then travelled back. We brought Maitland-Niles up who arrived at 1pm because we had only 17 players.
“Will he be available for Wednesday? Certainly he will be short. We will see what it is exactly.”
Alex Iwobi took Ozil’s place in the starting lineup at Turf Moor, with Jack Wilshere introduced as a second half substitute.
The 25-year-old made an immediate impact but will have been frustrated not to have been among the starters for yet another Premier League game.
Earlier this month he told Standard Sport that, while he hopes to stay at the club, he wanted a more regular berth in Wenger’s league side.
The Arsenal manager hinted that that opportunity could come in a week where Arsenal face two league games as they bid to hold on to their top four berth.
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“He did alright when he came on, he has that little burst to be dangerous,” Wenger said of Wilshere. “We play so many games and he is getting stronger.”