Gabriel Martinelli injury: Arsenal winger misses Brazil training before Peru game
Gabriel Martinelli is set to miss Brazil’s World Cup qualifier against Peru on Tuesday evening due to a calf injury.
The Arsenal winger came on as a late substitute in the final five minutes of Brazil’s 2-1 win against Chile last Friday.
But ahead of Brazil’s game against Peru in Brasilia, Martinelli has been unable to train due to a calf problem.
The 23-year-old missed Brazil’s final training session on Monday afternoon with the rest of his teammates.
Martinelli is undergoing treatment with Brazil’s medical team but he is not expected to play a part in the match against Peru.
Brazil’s medical staff have described Martinelli’s problem as a ‘muscle edema’, which is where the muscle swells from too much fluid.
The winger was not in line to start the match, with Brazil head coach Dorival Junior naming his starting line-up against Peru in his pre-match press conference.
Barring any late injuries, Brazil’s starting XI is: Ederson; Vanderson, Marquinhos, Gabriel Magalhaes, Abner; Bruno Guimaraes, Gerson, Rodrygo; Savinho, Raphinha, Igor Jesus.
‘The team captain tomorrow will be Marquinhos and I expect a satisfactory performance from the team, improving every moment, the objective at this moment is to seek the result respecting our opponent who is also in a recovery process, trying to find an adjustment, perhaps the same one we are looking for in this phase of the competition,’ Dorival Junior said at his press conference on Monday.
Brazil currently sit fourth in their World Cup qualifying table after nine games, six points behind leaders Argentina.
Arsenal, meanwhile, must now wait to see the extent of Martinelli’s injury as their Premier League campaign resumes this Saturday with a trip to Bournemouth.
Before the international break, Martinelli has impressed in the wins over Leicester City, Paris Saint-Germain and Southampton.
Mikel Arteta’s side are also assessing the extent of Bukayo Saka’s hamstring issue which kept him out of England’s 3-1 win over Finland on Sunday.
