Arsenal's International Break Exodus: Arteta Counts the Cost Before Leeds

Hamstring injuries to Kai Havertz and Christos Tzolis headline a lengthy treatment-room list as the champions try to bounce back from their Brighton humbling.

Mikel Arteta wanted the extended October international break to be a reset. Instead, it has handed Arsenal’s manager a fresh stack of problems.

With Leeds United due at Emirates Stadium on Saturday, the Premier League champions are assessing a growing list of players who came back from national-team duty with knocks, strains and muscle injuries — on top of the absentees they already had when the break began.

Havertz and Tzolis are the most significant casualties, both sidelined by hamstring problems. Ezri Konsa left the England camp with a dead leg; teenager Max Dowman returned early from England’s under-19s; William Saliba, meanwhile, remains weeks away from fitness.

The timing could hardly be worse. Arsenal opened their title defence with four straight league wins, capped by a gritty 2–0 victory at Sunderland, before a heavy defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion on Sept. 19 exposed a fragility few had predicted. “This can’t happen again,” Arteta said afterwards. Now he must make sure it doesn’t with a depleted squad.

Hamstrings strike the frontline

Havertz lasted barely half an hour of Germany’s opening match of the window — Jürgen Klopp’s first game in charge of the national team — before pulling up with a hamstring injury. Scans have reportedly brought encouraging news, but no firm timeline has been given. He is expected to miss Leeds and could be out for a couple of weeks.

Tzolis fared even worse. The winger was substituted after only 18 minutes of Greece’s meeting with the Netherlands. Greece coach Ivan Jovanović played down the damage afterwards, saying he hoped it was only a fleeting twinge rather than anything serious. Sports Illustrated reports the forward could return before the end of October, but he will not face Leeds.

The double blow strips Arteta of two attacking options at once. With Gabriel Martinelli having left for Saudi Arabia over the summer, the left flank is especially thin. Eberechi Eze has filled in there without much impact, while Noni Madueke, a right-sided winger by trade, could be asked to switch wings and offer direct running.

A reshuffled back line

Konsa’s withdrawal followed a frustrating fortnight with England. The summer signing arrived in camp carrying discomfort, played through it against Spain, sat out the trip to Czechia and then started against Croatia in Rijeka on Oct. 3, where a blow to the quad finally ended his involvement. England manager Thomas Tuchel sent him back to London for treatment on both issues. “I think nothing major, but not worth the risk taking,” Tuchel said. Konsa is a doubt for Saturday.

Saliba’s absence is longer-term. The France centre-back went into the break recovering from a back fracture and has resumed running on grass, but reports differ on his return date, with estimates ranging from November to December. Gabriel Magalhães travelled with Brazil but had his training load trimmed, while Jurriën Timber’s minutes remain carefully managed by both Arsenal and the Netherlands following summer groin surgery.

There is relief elsewhere in defence. Cristhian Mosquera, out since August with a hamstring problem, is fit again after being spotted training at his former club Valencia during the break. Ben White has recovered from the groin injury he sustained at Sunderland. Piero Hincapié has also returned to training, according to SB Nation, though Daily Cannon still lists him as a doubt.

Rice, Dowman and the managed cases

Declan Rice never joined up with England at all. The midfielder has battled neural pain in his hamstring throughout 2026, and after a 55-game club season followed by a summer World Cup, Arsenal and England agreed to prioritise rest. He spent much of the window in Dubai and is expected to be available against Leeds.

Dowman’s break was eventful. The teenager was shown a straight red card in England under-19s’ 2–1 win over the United States, then sat out the final match against Belgium with a contact injury before returning to the club. The issue is not expected to keep him out this weekend.

Captain Martin Ødegaard appears to have escaped serious damage after taking a nasty kick to the ankle from Bernardo Silva.

Bright spots on the road

Not all the news from the break was bad. Viktor Gyökeres scored in all four of Sweden’s matches, a timely confidence boost for a striker who had been handed just 207 minutes across all competitions before the window. With Havertz out, he is the obvious choice to lead the line.

Bukayo Saka came through the international fixtures unscathed, although Arsenal continues to monitor his workload closely as he eases into the season. Bruno Guimarães, the club’s marquee summer signing in midfield, also enjoyed a productive trip with Brazil to Australia and India. He fired the Seleção back in front in a come-from-behind win over Australia in Brisbane on Sept. 29.

What it means for Leeds

Arteta is expected to make around four changes from the side beaten at Brighton. Rice should return to partner Guimarães in midfield, with Gyökeres leading the line. If Konsa fails to recover, Mosquera is the natural partner for Gabriel, and White can share right-back duties with Timber. On the left, the choice appears to be between Eze and a reshuffled Madueke, with Mikel Merino an alternative option in attack.

The opposition will not make it easy. Leeds arrives having conceded only three goals in five league games, joint-fewest in the division, and with the fifth-lowest expected goals against.

Echoes of March

This is not the first time an international window has emptied Arsenal’s dressing room in 2026. In March, 10 senior players withdrew from their national squads in a single break. Saka and Rice returned from England for medical assessment, Madueke hurt his knee in a 1–1 friendly against Uruguay, Martín Zubimendi left Spain with right-knee discomfort, and Eze was ruled out for a month with a calf injury. Gabriel, Saliba, Timber, Leandro Trossard and Hincapié also pulled out.

That episode prompted accusations that Arsenal was putting club before country. October’s list is shorter, but it cuts deeper into the attack, and it lands at a moment when the champions can least afford another stumble.

Arteta now has three days to piece together a side capable of answering the questions Brighton raised. On Saturday, his squad’s depth — the quality that carried Arsenal to the title last season — faces its sternest test yet.