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The Times’ Henry Winter is reporting that Arsenal striker Lucas Perez picked up a hamstring issue and will be unavailable for today’s UEFA Champions League clash with Bayern Munich:
#afc squad changes from Saturday... In: Xhaka (has been suspended domestically) and Mertesacker. Out: Perez (slight hamstring).
— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) February 14, 2017
Lucas has been an intermittent feature outside of the FA Cup since Arsenal brought him on in last year’s summer transfer window. He has six goals in all competitions this season: one in league competition, three in the Champions League and a brace in the League Cup back in September.
His playing time was already sparse (eight starts in all competitions though five of those starts were in either the FA or League Cup), but the return of Danny Welbeck is certain to limit Lucas’ opportunities even more. Since returning last month from his knee injury that he suffered in May of last year, Welbeck has made six appearances. Perhaps more indicative of Welbeck’s preference is that he was named to the squad against Chelsea weekend before last while Lucas was not.
Nonetheless for today’s squad, Lucas will be unavailable. We’ll see how long the hamstring issue persists and negates his inclusion as Arsenal look to maintain their spot in the top four domestically while balancing the effort to get by Bayern in the Champions League.