The latest injury news as Sunderland prepare to host Premier League champions Arsenal at the Stadium of Light on Saturday night.

Premier League champions Arsenal are hoping for a double defensive boost ahead of their visit to Sunderland on Saturday night.

Mikel Arteta’s men have to safely navigate their opening game of this season’s Champions League on Wednesday night as they travel to the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona to take on Serie A club Napoli before they focus their attention on their trip to Wearside. It has been a promising start to the new campaign for the Gunners as they look to secure back-to-back top flight titles for the first time in over 90 years after they claimed maximum points from an away day at Aston Villa and home games with newly-promoted Coventry City and title rivals Chelsea.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta. | AFP via Getty Images.

placeholder image — Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta. | AFP via Getty Images.

However, there have been injury concerns for Arteta throughout the opening weeks of the season with defensive duo Cristhian Mosquera and Jurrien Timber both rated as doubts for the meeting with the Black Cats after suffering respective thigh and groin injuries.

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Speaking about Timber ahead of the weekend win against Chelsea, Arteta said: “He is in really good condition at the moment. As I said, he's been now a few weeks on the pitch, and he's training with us now.” The Spanish boss is also awaiting news on the progress of a hamstring injury suffered by Mosquera that kept the twice-capped Spanish international out of the victory against the Blues. Arteta said of the injury: “He had a muscular issue, and we think it’s not too much. But we need to wait and see the next few days for how it evolves.”

One Gunners defender that will not make the trip to Wearside is France international William Saliba, who is expected to be out of action until November with a lower back injury. Sunderland head into the game knowing they will be without winger Romaine Mundle and midfielder Habib Diarra as they will remain on the sidelines for the foreseeable future with knee and hamstring injuries. The Black Cats are also awaiting news on whether summer signing Juan Riquleme Angulo has been granted a visa after securing a deal for the Ecuador youth international on transfer deadline day.

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