Arteta confirms Arsenal injury nightmare after Aston Villa defeat

Tom Weber

• 6 Dec 2025 12:10 CST
• 3 min read

News

Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Arsenal defender Cristhian Mosquera's injury is worse than expected.

The Gunners suffered a rare defeat on Saturday when they were beaten 2-1 by Unai Emery's in-form Aston Villa, thanks to a stoppage-time winner from Emiliano Buendia.

The home side triumphed in a back-and-forth affair and narrowed the gap to league leaders Arsenal to just three points, confirming the trend of recent weeks, which has seen Villa surge up the table after a dire start to the season.

It would be an exaggeration to say that Arsenal had an off day at Villa Park because they certainly had spells where they were in the ascendancy and caused their hosts trouble.

However, especially early on in the game, the Gunners struggled to cope with Villa's unusually intense press. With Arteta having to navigate a defensive injury crisis, Emery likely thought that Arsenal's makeshift defence could be easily put under pressure - and he was correct.

Arteta confirms injury nightmare

Jurrien Timber had to slot in at right centre-back as William Saliba and Cristhian Mosquera were out injured, while Piero Hincapie once again deputised for Gabriel Magalhaes. Timber, in particular, had moments where he looked uncomfortable dealing with Villa's physicality.

The worry for Arsenal is that they will be without their main centre-back options for the hectic festive period, and Arteta confirmed after the game that this is a distinct possibility.

While Saliba is expected to return within a matter of days as he only picked up a minor knock, Gabriel and Mosquera are still expected to be out for 'weeks.' "Big Gabi is doing very well as well, but that's weeks as well," Arteta revealed on Tuesday.

Quizzed about Mosquera after the Villa game, Arteta admitted that his suspected ankle problem is worse than initially anticipated. "He's going to be out for weeks," he said. "Unfortunately, it was much more than we were expecting."

Speaking about the title race, Arteta added: "Well, it's been five months in the competition, and so far, we've coped. But we're going to have to prove that we can cope again, and again, and again for another six months. That's the level."

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