Why Timber isn't in Arsenal squad vs Club Brugge as Arteta issues update

Jurrien Timber was ruled out of Arsenal's Champions League match against Club Brugge on Wednesday after suffering a knock at the weekend, with Mikel Arteta confirming the defender had a 'bad kick' that was too early to recover from.

Jurrien Timber has been left out of the Arsenal squad for Wednesday evening's Champions League clash away to Club Brugge.

The defender had featured in all five of the Gunners' matches in the competition this season, even scoring in the 3-1 victory over Bayern Munich last month. Timber has also been in the starting line-up for 13 out of the 15 Premier League matches this season.

In the win against Brentford and defeat at Aston Villa, the 24-year-old teamed up with Piero Hincapie in central defence due to injuries in Mikel Arteta's squad. Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba are both recovering from injuries, with the latter nearing a comeback, while Cristhian Mosquera is set for some time on the sidelines.

On Wednesday, Arteta made five alterations to the team that lost at Villa Park, with the most unexpected one occurring in central defence. Timber's absence forced Arsenal to field another new partnership, with Christian Norgaard pairing up with Hincapie in defence.

The summer recruit has only made seven appearances for the club since his transfer from Brentford. He was in the starting eleven for the 3-0 victory at Slavia Prague in November, but has remained an unused substitute in the last five league matches.

Norgaard has experience playing as a centre-back, having started in that position eight times during his stint at Brentford. During this period, he managed to keep four clean sheets and conceded just five goals.

Despite being excluded from the squad, Timber did accompany his teammates to Belgium. Riccardo Calafiori was also left out of the starting XI, although the Italian did make it to the bench.

Academy talents Josh Nichols, Marli Salmon and Louie Copley were amongst the substitutes alongside established stars such as Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze and Ethan Nwaneri.

"They both had issues from the weekend, both really bad kicks," Arteta confirmed pre-match in Belgium. "For Jurrien it was too early and for Ricci [Calafiori] we have to manage to see if he can do some minutes. [tonight]".

Arteta's side currently sit at the summit of the Champions League table with a perfect record of five victories from five matches and can virtually secure a top-eight position and automatic qualification with a win this evening.

The Gunners manager will be seeking a reaction from his team following their first loss since August when they were beaten by Villa last weekend.