Arsenal striker picks up thigh injury on international duty
Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud has emerged as a serious doubt for next weekend’s north London derby against Tottenham after sustaining a thigh injury on international duty with France.
Giroud was subbed off with 17 minutes left in France’s 2-0 win over Wales on Friday and has now returned to Arsenal for further treatment on his right thigh.
The 31-year-old scored against Wales to move clear into seventh on France’s all-time scoring charts (29) but he will now miss Tuesday’s clash against Germany.
Arsenal will now be sweating on Giroud’s availability when they face arch rivals Tottenham on Saturday.
Giroud has not started a Premier League game this season following the arrival of club-record signing Alexandre Lacazette over the summer.
Despite that, the experienced Frenchman has been a regular provider for the Gunners when called upon. Since the start of last season, only four players (5+ goals) have a better minutes per goal ratio than Giroud (1 every 105.4 minutes of action).