Arteta said before the 1-0 defeat: “Ben [White] didn't make it to start because he only had half a session yesterday so it’s the third time. It’s a little issue so we have to protect him.”
White missed games against Leicester City, Southampton, PSG, Bolton and PSG with what is thought to be a knee issue. This is not the first time that the England international has suffered with these problems and was thought to be playing through it until the trip to Dubai which allowed some recovery and he ended the season strongly.
This will mean that Jakub Kiwior or Oleksandr Zinchenko along with Myles Lewis-Skelly could be called on. However, the greater ambition is for Riccardo Calafiori the return to the squad and assist with an important and hectic festive schedule.
Although, Arteta did say at the end of October ahead of the match with Preston that Calafiori: "Will be out for a few weeks I’d say." That could see him ruled out until later in November and miss the matches with Nottingham Forest, Sporting CP and West Ham but after Martin Odegaard's recovery ahead of schedule, anything is possible.
White will work on his recovery alongside other sidelined players such as Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Odegaard, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney. The list has got longer but this break is hoped to significantly shorten it.
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