Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has admitted the club will be looking for a late recruit in the transfer window after suffering injury setbacks.
The Gunners maintained their perfect start to the Premier League season with a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa on Wednesday, with Gabriel Martinelli scoring the winner just 151 seconds after Douglas Luiz's equaliser.
Arteta was forced to change his starting ranks in midfield for the second game in a row though, with Mohamed Elneny having suffered an injury in Saturday's 2-1 win against Fulham.
Elneny's setback came after Thomas Partey was ruled out of action through injury, with Arteta having to turn to Albert Sambi Lokonga for the midweek test against Villa.
With Premier League tests a plenty and the Europa League group stages crammed in before the start of the World Cup in Qatar, squads will be stretched to their limits and that may spark late activity in the transfer market.
Arsenal could now be involved in the closing stages of the window, with Arteta admitting after the game the injury to Elneny looks set to keep the Egypt international out for an extended period.
"Obviously it has an impact because Thomas is injured as well and we’re a bit short in that position," he said in the post-match press conference.
"We have players like Sambi, we have players like Granit [Xhaka] who can play there. The club has been super supportive to keep improving the squad and the team as we can, and if the right player is available and we can do it, we will try."
Arsenal had further injury worries during the game with captain Martin Odegaard forced off with a knock and Arteta was unsure on the severity of the problem, adding: "He got a bad kick and it’s swollen. Still unclear how bad it is," he added.
The Gunners have been attributed with an interest in a number of midfielders heading into deadline day, with Palmieras' Danilo and Leicester City's Youri Tielemans among them.
Al Ittihad 1-2 Al Hilal: Holders into King's Cup final
Al Hilal overcame Sergej Milinkovic-Savic's red card as Saud Abdulhamid's late goal sealed a 2-1 victory over Al Ittihad in the King's Cup semi-finals.
Without Karim Benzema, Al Ittihad ultimately lacked the firepower to make their numerical advantage count in Tuesday's clash.
Former Lazio midfielder, who joined Al Hilal as part of their spending spree last year, received a straight red card in the 42nd minute.
Al Ittihad's Abderrazzaq Hamed-Allah cancelled out Micheal's opener, but Abdulhamid popped up with the winner in the 81st minute.
Al Hilal are 10-time King's Cup winners, having won their 10th title last season.
The Saudi Pro League leaders, who are still without the injured Neymar, will now face either Al Khaleej or Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr in the final at the end of May.
Data Debrief: Malcom in the middle
Al Hilal might be missing their star Brazilian Neymar, but his compatriot Malcom is delivering when it comes to playmaking.
The former Zenit attacker set up both of Al Hilal's goals, creating three chances in total and registering a pass accuracy of 92.6 per cent, better than any of his team-mates.
Former Spain boss Del Bosque to oversee RFEF
Former Spain boss Vicente del Bosque will oversee a new committee supervising the RFEF.
Spain, which is due to be one of six host countries for the 2030 World Cup, announced the creation of a special committee until the federation holds elections to replace Luis Rubiales.
That is despite Pedro Rocha having this week been appointed as Rubiales' replacement, though he himself is under investigation amid a corruption probe.
Rubiales was dismissed following his unsolicited kiss on Jenni Hermoso during the Women's World Cup trophy ceremony in 2023.
The federation's former president was then arrested in early April as part of a corruption investigation.
Del Bosque led Spain to three consecutive trophies, winning the European Championships in 2008 and 2012, while also leading the team to their first World Cup success in 2010.
Prior to his time with the national team, he also won two Champions Leagues and two LaLiga titles while in charge of Real Madrid, where he made over 400 appearances as a player.
Preston 0-3 Leicester City: Foxes seal Championship title in style
Leicester City cruised to a 3-0 win over Preston in the Championship on Monday to clinch the title with a game to spare.
Jamie Vardy was the star for the Foxes as he scored in both halves before Kasey McAteer made sure of the points with an unmarked header.
Abdul Fatawu had the chance to cap an already memorable night for the travelling fans but hit the post with his curler.
Preston slumped to a fourth consecutive defeat, while Leicester go into their final game against Blackburn Rovers with the knowledge that they will lift the trophy after the final whistle.
Data Debrief
Jamie Vardy has scored 18 goals this season (two in this game), more than any other Leicester player in the competition. He has also netted in his last three games, scoring four goals in total.
It was a dominant performance from the Foxes, who had 19 shots with 11 of those on target. At the other end, Preston only managed to test Jakub Stolarczyk once from their five attempts.
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