Cristhian Mosquera was withdrawn in the 79th minute of Arsenal’s 1-0 win at Aston Villa on Monday night after signalling he could not continue. Ezri Konsa came on in his place at Villa Park.
Arteta insisted the substitution was precautionary rather than a reaction to a diagnosed injury.
“He’s fine, but he was feeling like he was about to have something, and that’s why we have the bench that we have, and that’s why we had to bring Ezri in,” the Arsenal manager said after the match.
The Spanish defender had been feeling his left hamstring in the closing stages.
Read also: Record billion Seahawks purchase, days before champions' opener
Guimarães still not fully sharp
Bruno Guimarães, a £75m summer arrival from Newcastle, has not looked right since coming off at half-time of Arsenal’s 3-0 Community Shield win over Manchester City on 16 August. The Brazilian missed the Premier League opener against Coventry City and only returned as a substitute against Villa.
“He had a slight tension in his groin. He hasn’t done a preseason, he only had four or five days before that game, and we had to take him out,” Arteta told Sky Sports after the Coventry match.
“We expect that not to be weeks at all. Let’s see how he evolves this week,” he said in mid-August.
Defence stretched before Sunday
William Saliba is unavailable, Jurrien Timber is a doubt for the weekend and Konsa is the natural partner for Gabriel Magalhães if Mosquera cannot start.
Read also: Sabalenka fumes at US Open press conference: 'Think before you say stuff'
Arsenal go into the derby unbeaten, with two clean sheets from two matches. Chelsea are level with them on six points, having opened Xabi Alonso’s tenure with a 3-2 away win at Fulham followed by a 4-3 victory over Brighton. Alonso was appointed by Chelsea on a four-year contract and took charge on 1 July.
Kick-off at the Emirates is at 4:30pm local time on Sunday, 6 September. Arteta is expected to give the latest on Mosquera and Guimarães at his pre-match press conference on Friday.
Read also: Keane and Neville split on Everton vs Man United, one backs a United win, the other a draw
