Arsenal Striker Viktor Gyökeres Ruled Out of Champions League Clash with Slavia Prague

Arsenal will be without in-form striker Viktor Gyökeres for their UEFA Champions League group-stage fixture against Slavia Prague on Tuesday, manager Mikel Arteta confirmed on Monday. The Swedish forward suffered a muscle injury during the team’s 2-0 Premier League win at Burnley last weekend.

Gyökeres, who scored the opening goal in that match—his fourth in the Premier League this season—was substituted at halftime after feeling discomfort. Arteta revealed that the 26-year-old will undergo further medical assessments to determine the severity of the injury but ruled out any chance of his participation in Prague.

“He’s definitely not available,” Arteta told reporters. “He hasn’t trained today, and we need to do some more tests and scans in the next few days to understand the extent of the injury, but for this game, he is not available.”

The Swedish international joined Arsenal from Sporting CP in July for €55 million ($64.14 million) and has since become a key figure in Arteta’s attack. Having started 13 matches across all competitions, his absence is a setback for the Gunners as they look to maintain their perfect start in Europe.

“Concern because he hasn’t had many muscular issues, and he had to leave the pitch, and he was feeling something,” Arteta said. “That’s obviously never a good sign, especially for a player who is very, very explosive. So we are digging in a little bit more to understand where we are in terms of the injury, and we’ll announce the moment we know more.”

Gyökeres’ injury comes just as he seemed to be regaining top form. His goal at Turf Moor was his first in the league since mid-September, and he had impressed with a brace in Arsenal’s 4-0 Champions League victory over Atletico Madrid.

“Obviously he was very disappointed after the match with what he felt, but this is part of football,” Arteta added. “If you expect a linear line, everything going up, it’s not going to happen, and if he’s got something, he’s going to have to deal with it; we will help him to do that. He was in a really good moment, in really good form, very important for the team. But for tomorrow, we don’t have him, so that’s it.”

Arsenal enters Tuesday’s game with a perfect Champions League record, winning all three matches so far without conceding a goal. Slavia Prague, meanwhile, are still chasing their first win in the group, sitting on two points.