Arsenal sweat over four injury doubts ahead of Leeds clash after Konsa setback

Arsenal head into Saturday’s Premier League home fixture against Leeds carrying four injury concerns, with Ezri Konsa the latest doubt after withdrawing from England’s squad during the international break.

Konsa managed 90 minutes in England’s game against Croatia but had missed the earlier fixture against the Czech Republic with an unspecified knock. He faces further assessment now that he has returned to the club, adding to the uncertainty surrounding Mikel Arteta’s defensive options.

Declan Rice had already been pulled out of international action to manage his workload and an existing injury, though the midfielder is expected to be fit to feature against Leeds. The more damaging news concerns Kai Havertz and Christos Tzolis, who both suffered hamstring problems while on duty for Germany and Greece respectively. The forward pair are expected to miss several weeks of action, including Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off.

There is some relief for Arteta elsewhere. Cristhian Mosquera, Ben White and Piero Hincapie have all returned to training in recent days to strengthen his defensive cover, and concerns over Martin Odegaard proved unfounded — the captain continued to play for Norway throughout the break.

Arsenal arrive at this fixture under pressure after a 3-0 defeat to Brighton on 19 September, their last league outing, which left them second in the table behind Manchester City.