Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres ruled out of Champions League clash with Slavia Prague

The Swedish forward, who joined Arsenal in a 64 million pounds move prior to the beginning of the season, opened the scoring in the 2-0 win over Burnley in the Premier Leage on Saturday but was substituted at half-time with a muscle injury

Gyokeres will take no part in the Champions League clash with Slavia Prague and Arteta admits he is 'concerned', suggesting there are fears the injury may be worse than initially thought.

"He's definitely not available," Arteta confirmed on Monday. "He hasn't trained today. We need to do some more tests and scans in the next few days to understand the full extent of the injury. But he's not available for this game."

Pressed on whether the issue might be short-term, the Arsenal boss expressed caution. "I am concerned because he hasn't had many muscular issues and he had to leave the pitch feeling something," Arteta said. "That's never a good sign, especially for a player who is very, very explosive. We are digging in a little bit more to understand where we are in terms of the injury and we'll announce something once we know."

Gyokeres' absence deepens Arsenal's attacking crisis, with seven first-team players currently sidelined. Forwards Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz, Noni Madueke, and Gabriel Jesus are all unavailable, while captain Martin Odegaard remains out with a minor knock.

"It's part of football," Arteta reflected. "If you expect a straight line with everything always improving, it's not going to happen. Viktor was disappointed because he was in a really good moment and very important for the team, but if he's got something, he'll have to deal with it - and we'll help him through that."

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