Arteta Provides Key Injury Updates on White and Timber

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Ben White is facing a long-term injury layoff, but offered a glimmer of hope that Jurrien Timber might still feature this season. With both defenders sidelined, Arteta currently lacks a natural right-back, a situation that could prove problematic for the Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain. This season, Arteta has deployed various solutions, with Declan Rice, Cristian Mosquera, and Ricardo Calafiori all filling in at right-back in different matches.

"We are focused on what's in our hands – preparing in the best possible way to beat Burnley.

Over the past few days, we've been in both positions – chasing and being chased. The fact that we've been at the top for so long demonstrates our consistency and how well the team has performed to maintain that position. This is where we are. More than ever, we want to finish in this position, and that's what we're striving to do."

When asked if he would be aiming for a more significant goal difference, which could, under certain circumstances, decide the title race with Manchester City, the Spaniard replied: "First, we need to earn the right to win the match. If we do it by a margin, that will be even better."

Arteta confirmed Ben White's injury is long-term but stated he doesn't yet know if it will rule him out of the World Cup: "We'll have to wait and see. It appears to be a long-term injury, so right now the focus is on when we can get him back to be available for Arsenal. And that won't be for many, many weeks.

Timber has made some progress in the last few days. He's feeling better. We will try to get him fit and available as quickly as possible, but let's see. He's such an important player for us and is doing everything he can to help the team in any way. He's doing everything he can. There's a chance he could play again this season, but how big that chance is, I can't tell you. He will do everything possible to make it as big as possible, and that's the challenge ahead.

I still don't know if Ricardo Calafiori will be available. We hope it's nothing serious, but we have to wait and see how he reacts.

The team is in a very good emotional state. The energy levels are right. We currently have most players available – well, we lost Ben White the other day, but the others are also returning. And everyone is enthusiastic and positive about how we can finish the season."

Asked what solution he would find for the right flank of the defense for the final against PSG, considering Kvaratskhelia's strong form on the left wing of the Parisian attack, Arteta replied: "We need to look at alternatives. The two players we have are not available at the moment. So we need to look for and do something different. The good thing is that we have experience across the entire pitch this season. Because when we had problems, they were usually in the same position. And we managed to find the right levels of performance and consistency, so I'm sure we'll do it again."