Mikel Arteta has insisted that Arsenal can weather the storm of "weeks" without their defensive leader Gabriel as injuries threaten to derail the Gunners ahead of a pivotal week.

Gabriel injured his thigh in Brazil's 2-0 win over Senegal on Saturday and is due for further scans on Wednesday as Arsenal look to ascertain a clearer timescale on the recovery of their defensive leader. Initial fears pegged the 27 year old as facing up to two months on the sidelines but for the time being Arteta remains reluctant to offer further clarity.

"He's going to be out for weeks," said Arteta. "We need to have another scan and we'll have the timeline much clearer than we have at the moment. It's clearly a blow, it's our leader in our backline. It's never a positive thing to lose him. The good thing is

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