Leah Williamson out with a “significant” hamstring injury

Arsenal Women have suffered a big blow, with Leah Williamson suffering what the club have called a “significant hamstring injury” during Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur in the WSL last Saturday.

A timetable for Williamson’s rehabilitation has not yet been set, but speaking to media ahead of Arsenal’s UEFA Women’s Champions League match with Køge tomorrow, Jonas Eidevall said it would be unlikely for Williamson to return before the new year.

Between the Olympics, Arsenal’s fixtures, and England duty, Williamson has played 1765 minutes since the end of July—nearly 20 games in a little over three months. Eidevall had been hoping to rest all of Arsenal’s Olympics players, having done so with Lotte Wubben-Moy and Vivianne Miedema, but was not able to do with Williamson.

Assuming she misses the rest of 2021, there are some key fixtures Williamson will miss: this weekend’s clash away at Manchester United, the 2021 Women’s FA Cup final against Chelsea, and the home group stage match against Barcelona. Arsenal will hope Williamson returns to fitness before a run of fixtures at the end of January and beginning of February that sees them go away to Manchester City and Chelsea, and face Manchester United at home.