The omens for Arsenal when they face Borussia
Dortmund are looking good.
Arsenal are in a fantastic position in their Champions
League group, and seemingly are being given every
chance of maintaining their lead.
Their next two matches are against last season's
runners-up Borussia Dortmund, and the fixtures
could not be more perfectly timed.
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Already we know that Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp
will have to 'manage' from the stands as punisment
for his abuse of a fourth official in the first game
against Napoli.
On the pitch the situation for Klopp is likely to be far
worse, with an injury crisis taking hold.
Star midfielder Ilkay Gundogan has been out for the
past month, and now hopes he could return for the
encounters on October 22 and November 6 have
likely been dashed.
Bild report that the 22-year-old has suffered a
setback in his recovery from a back injury, and can't
even set a predicted return date the situation is so
unclear.
General manager Michael Zorc stated: "He's just not
making much progress. We do not know when he can
play again."
It is not the only piece of bad news for Dortmund and
good news for the Gunners: His replacement in the
Dortmund side Nuri Sahin has just suffered an ankle
ligament tear and stands to miss three weeks, and
the first Arsenal tie.
Think that's all, it gets worse if you are a Dortmund
fan. The club on Monday confirmed injuries to two
more key players, Marco Reus and Sven Bender.
Reus like Sahin suffered a torn ankle ligament at the
weekend and has had to pull out of the German
international squad. The winger is at real risk of
missing the game at the Emirates later this month.
Bender is out for 10 days with a thigh problem as is
young midfielder Jonas Hofman, who has featured in
seven Bundesliga games this season. First choice
right-back Lukasz Piszczek is also out with a long
term injury.
Dortmund will hope to patch up their squad as best
as possible over the international break, and Jurgen
Klopp will be hoping no more injuries to key players
are sustained.
On the other side of the coin, Arsenal hope to have
Santi Cazorla and Theo Walcott returned from injury
for the clashes, while Lukas Podolski is a possibility
for the second match in Germany.
Arsenal have little to complain about at present, and
Dortmund's troubles are just one more reason why
their prospects over the coming weeks appear
brighter than ever.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld from Glo Mobile.
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