Arsene Wenger gives Gabriel injury update and rues Laurent Koscielny absence ahead of FA Cup final

Arsene Wenger faces a major headache to form his Arsenal defence in the FA Cup final against Chelsea after losing Laurent Koscielny and Gabriel Paulista during the 3-1 victory over Everton on Sunday (21 May). Alexis Sanchez was also forced off later in the game but the France boss failed to provide an update on the Chilean international.

Koscielny is definitely ruled out to face Chelsea after being sent off in the 14<sup>th minute of the game following a late tackle on Everton forward Enner Valencia.

Arsenal were hit by a further blow in the second half of the game after Gabriel was stretchered off and replaced by Per Mertesacker with a serious looking injury.

Wenger believes that Koscielny dismissal was too harsh while he confirmed that Gabriel could also miss the FA Cup final against Chelsea due to the injury.

"It looked spectacular but when you watch it again, it looked a bit harsh. What could we do?," Wenger said in the press conference when asked about Koscielny's red card.

"Gabriel overstretched his knee and will have a scan tomorrow. We'll see the damage. It doesn't look too good for next Saturday, to be honest."

The Arsenal boss will thus be hoping to recover Shkodran Mustafi in time to face Chelsea as the German international also missed the win over Everton through illness.

Meanwhile, Sanchez also set alarms bells ringing at the Emirates Stadium after being forced off and replaced by Alexis Iwobi in the 68<sup>th minute of the game with a suspected leg injury. Yet, his substitution only appeared to be a precaution as the Arsenal boss failed to provide any update following the win over Everton.