Arsenal's Sokratis Papastathopoulos Doubt vs. Leicester City After Ankle Injury

Sokratis Papastathopoulos will be assessed ahead of Arsenal's Premier League fixture at home to Leicester City after the centre-back picked up an apparent ankle injury while on international duty with Greece:

The defender, who moved to north London from Borussia Dortmund this summer, "will be assessed by the Gunners when he returns to England, while Danny Welbeck and Petr Cech will also be monitored this week ahead of possible returns from hamstring problems," per Lyall Thomas of Sky Sports. 

Being without Sokratis limits the option at the back for Gunners manager Unai Emery ahead of hosting the Foxes next Monday at the Emirates Stadium. The Spaniard is already without injured Frenchman Laurent Koscielny and promising 20-year-old Konstantinos Mavropanos.

Sokratis has missed Arsenal's last two league games, wins over Watford and Fulham, after he picked up an injury during the 2-0 win over Everton at home last month.

The 30-year-old did return for the Gunners' 3-0 win away to Qarabag in the UEFA Europa league on Oct. 4. He opened the scoring to bring up two landmarks for Arsenal:

Sokratis has brought a no-nonsense brand of defending to Arsenal's shaky back four. He's been aggressive in the air and used all of his experience to rarely get caught out of position.

Those qualities mean he will be missed at the heart of Emery's steadily improving defence. However, Sokratis' latest setback will at least give Rob Holding more chances to impress.

The 23-year-old has caught the eye since coming off the bench in place of Sokratis against the Toffees:

If Sokratis is out again, Holding will need to be at his best to keep Foxes striker Jamie Vardy quiet. Vardy has found the net three times this season and receives excellent support from Kelechi Iheanacho and schemer James Maddison.

Their pace and ingenuity will provide a stern test for Holding and Co.

Signed from Bolton Wanderers for just £2 million in 2016, Holding is making a case to become a regular in Emery's best starting XI. He signed a contract extension back in May, and would surely benefit from having a player as savvy as Sokratis alongside him.

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While Shkodran Mustafi continues to be mistake-prone, a Holding and Sokratis partnership may be the Gunners' best central defensive pairing until Koscielny is fully recovered from a ruptured Achilles.

In the meantime, Holding and Mustafi may face a tough time trying to subdue Leicester's forward line.