“Mikel Arteta will miss our match against Manchester City on New Year’s Day after testing positive for COVID-19. Mikel is isolating in line with Government guidelines and we wish him well.”

Mikel Arteta tests positive: Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta to miss the game against Manchester City after testing positive for COVID-19
Mikel Arteta tests positive: Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta to miss the game against Manchester City after testing positive for COVID-19

The Gunners are already without Calum Chambers, Cedric Soares, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Calum Chambers who have also tested positive in recent weeks. Arsenal cruised to a 5-0 win at bottom side Norwich City on Sunday, with Bukayo Saka’s double helping them to secure the victory as they consolidated fourth place in the Premier League.

The win takes Arsenal to 35 points from 19 games after their fourth straight league victory, just over two years since manager Mikel Arteta’s first match in charge of the Gunners. The visitors took the lead after six minutes through Saka, who stroked the ball past Angus Gunn following a neat passing move that led to Martin Odegaard laying the ball into the forward’s path.