Arsenal's Climb to Premier League Summit Marred by Shkodran Mustafi Injury

Arsenal beat Stoke City 3-1 to head to the top of the Premier League on Saturday afternoon, but their elation was undermined by concern over an injury to Shkodran Mustafi. With the German centre-back now set for an absence of at least three weeks, Arsenal must reshuffle their defence to ensure they can maintain momentum across the Christmas period.

It’s a sad blight on what was a very good day for the Gunners. This season, Arsene Wenger’s team have shown an improved maturity and mental strength, and those qualities were in evidence as Arsenal recovered from two early setbacks, including a one-goal deficit, to win the game. 

Speaking after the match a proud Wenger said, per Arsenal.com:

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In the last nine games Stoke has lost one, in the last four away games they didn’t lose - including Man United. They had a convincing win at Watford. We have given a lot in the last few days at West Ham and at Basel. So we had a hesitant start, but again we found the resources being 1-0 down to win the game. And we have now had three penalties against us at home and not one of them was convincing. Despite that we came back and won the game.

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Arsenal were sorely tested in the first half. They first stuttered when thrown by Mustafi’s injury—and shortly afterwards they conceded a penalty and found themselves behind. It was a contentious decision, with Joe Allen appearing to collide with Granit Xhaka’s arm without any real intent on the Swiss midfielder’s part. Charlie Adam dispatched the spot-kick, continuing Petr Cech’s poor run in penalty situations. The Arsenal keeper has not saved any of the seven penalties he’s faced since moving to north London. 

However, Arsenal regained their composure and managed to turn the match around. Theo Walcott justified his inclusion ahead of Lucas Perez, a hat-trick hero against Basel in midweek, with the equaliser. Hector Bellerin had been brought on as Mustafi’s replacement, and his fizzed cross was poked home by Walcott at the near post for his 100th club goal, 95 of which have come for Arsenal. 

Clive Rose/Getty Images

Another Englishman, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, played a crucial role in helping Arsenal to edge in front after the break. His lofted pass found Mesut Ozil free in the penalty area, and the playmaker sent a brilliant header looping over the stranded goalkeeper. It was an atypical contribution from Arsenal’s record signing, but it had Ozil’s hallmark elegance to it nonetheless. 

Oxlade-Chamberlain’s replacement, Alex Iwobi, put the seal on the victory after playing a one-two with Alexis Sanchez. The Nigerian skipped into the penalty area and finished confidently into the far corner. It was his second goal in a week, after he opened his account for the season against Basel. 

Iwobi has the technical ability to score goals—it seems self-belief was the main thing lacking. If he can now begin to contribute more regularly, Arsenal’s considerable goal threat will improve yet again.

Julian Finney/Getty Images

Wenger was clearly delighted with his team’s display, but he could not conceal his frustration at losing Mustafi. The German was rested against Basel, so the Arsenal boss will feel particularly unlucky to have lost him to a muscular strain this weekend. Speaking after he match, he confirmed:

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It’s a bad one. He had nothing in midweek. I would not have played him today (if he had). I had Hector Bellerin on the bench. I could have played Holding or Gabriel. He wanted to play in Basel, because he said ‘no it’s nothing’, and it was completely clear. I checked three times and there was no problem for. I don’t know why it happened, but it looks a ‘good’ hamstring strain.

Look, the minimum when you go out like that is 21 days. After that, today is December 10, so you are 21 days, that means he’ll have a nice Christmas!

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Mustafi is a considerable loss. Since joining from Valencia, he has become one of the first names on the teamsheet. Wenger has been loath to disrupt his central-defensive partnership with Laurent Koscielny. Even when Bellerin was out through injury, Wenger chose to play Gabriel Paulista out of position at right-back rather than displace the dependable German. 

Speaking to Amy Lawrence of the Guardian back in October, Wenger enthused about the start Mustafi has made in an Arsenal shirt:

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Koscielny is the leader because he is captain, but Mustafi looks like he is taking leadership as well at the back. What is surprising is how quickly he has integrated into the team at the back and how quickly they have formed a pair that works well together. 

Mustafi is a player who is highly focused. On that front he is a typical German — he wants to do the job well every day and he speaks his mind. He is vocal in the dressing room. He is not a quiet guy who hides. He gives his opinion and communicates a lot. When you isolate the pictures of the game and look at that he speaks a lot during the game.

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His absence will be keenly felt—especially given the taxing fixture list Arsenal face in the coming weeks. In the next seven days alone, they face trips to Everton and Manchester City. Although both sides suffered bad results this weekend, they have the quality to test a weakened Arsenal defence. 

With Per Mertesacker unlikely to be available until the new year, Brazilian Gabriel is the man most likely to deputise. Wenger could also turn to Rob Holding, although it would be a big ask for the former Bolton man to play in fixtures of that importance so early in his Arsenal career. 

Gabriel has fared surprisingly well at right-back but has generally not been as convincing as a centre-half. He coped reasonably well against Stoke, but sterner tests await. Arsenal will thank their lucky stars that Sergio Aguero is suspended for the match at the Etihad Stadium.

Arsenal’s stay at the top of the table could be brief—a point for Chelsea against West Brom on Sunday would knock the Gunners into second place. If they don’t deal with Mustafi’s absence, they may find it difficult to return to the summit. Arsenal have managed to cope with the injury to Santi Cazorla but must now cope with the loss of another key player.

If Arsenal can manage without Mustafi, their title challenge will begin to look even more credible.

James McNicholas is Bleacher Report's lead Arsenal correspondent and will be following the club from a London base throughout 2016/17. Follow him on Twitter here.