Arsenal could have Mikael Silvestre playing at centre-half and Armand Traore at left-back against Chelsea after Arsene Wenger admitted that William Gallas remains a doubt for the derby because he still can't see out of the eye he injured on Tuesday night.
"There is a big question mark about him at the moment," Wenger told the club's official website. "Today I cannot say that William Gallas will play, unfortunately. The ankle should be alright but the eye is still very, very, very swollen.
"He wears contact lenses and at the moment he would not get them in. We hope on Sunday it will be better. He is not comfortable but I am optimistic because we still have three days. It is Thursday today and we play on Sunday afternoon so, we are confident he can make it. Arshavin is OK. He was shocked but he is OK."
Kieran Gibbs is out for three months after breaking his foot during the win over Liege in midweek and Wenger says it will be another two weeks before any of the club's current absentees return when both Nicklas Bendtner and Abou Diaby are expected to return to training.
Though Frank Lampard is poised to return ahead of schedule for the game it has emerged that his quick comeback may have had very little to do with his visit to the horse placenta healer in Belgrade.
According to The Independent, he spent just an hour with the mystery woman before deciding her approach was not for him and taking a flight back to England.
Matthew Upson is injured again. The Sun says that he has been 'ruled out of struggling West Ham's clash with Burnley at Upton Park tomorrow after suffering a hamstring strain.' There's no word on the severity of the strain.
However, the Hammers could soon be boosted by the return to full fitness of Kieron Dyer. The midfielder has not played since the end of September after suffering a setback in his recovery from a hamstring problem but came through a reserve game unscathed in midweek.
Relief for Sunderland with the news that Darren Bent has been passed fit for the trip to Wigan after scans showed he has not pulled his hamstring.
"The scans have revealed that there is no real tear there, so it was probably a matter of cramp and tightness," confirmed Steve Bruce. "We will see how he is on Friday, but that would obviously be a huge boost to us all if I have got him available."
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CescF4
"Why is it that Arsenal always have one or more key players out when playing the big four? Cesc Fabregas was injured for the Man utd clash and now Gallas, Van Persie and Clichy. Go further back and you have Clichy out injured for the CL semi finals which we lost because of Gibbs mistake. Why not have Almunia out injured? its not like he'll make a difference injured or not. Can't remember the last time he made a decent save, anyone?"
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