© EuroFootball.com
London club attacker Emmanuel Adebayor suffered an injury during Tuesday's English League Cup match against West Bromwich Albion and will be out of the lineup for up to three weeks.
The Togolese national team player started the Carling Cup third-round match in the main team lineup, but after playing just 24 minutes, he got injured and was replaced by 17-year-old Frenchman Armand Traore.
Examinations revealed that E. Adebayor injured his thigh in the match against West Brom, so the former Monaco team attacking leader will almost certainly not be able to help the Gunners in Saturday's English Premier League 10th-round match against Liverpool's Everton.
"Arsenal" head coach Arsène Wenger is concerned that the injury could keep the attacker in the medical room for even longer, which could result in him missing the UEFA Champions League match against Moscow's CSKA on November 1 and the Premier League match against West Ham.
"It doesn't look very good," Wenger told the club's website. "He won't play against Everton, and he might miss even more matches. This type of injury takes almost 21 days to recover from."
This season, the African player mostly plays a supporting role in the coach's team, as the main striking force of Arsenal consists of Thierry Henry and Robin van Persie. Adebayor's absence will give Jeremie Aliadiere a great opportunity to prove that he is worthy of the substitute bench, especially after scoring two goals in Tuesday's match against West Brom.
Although the French forward was the most noticeable player in the winning match, Wenger was also pleased with the debut of young Brazilian Denilson, who was acquired from Sao Paulo on the last day of the transfer market.
The specialist from France had nothing but praise for the Brazilian star - he had been included in the team lineup for the match against Moscow's CSKA, but it was agreed that the tough competition for a place in the starting eleven means that performances in higher-level matches may still be a long way off.
"I feel he had a really good game," added the coach. "He's only 18 years old, but he has an amazing attitude and incredible speed. I think he will continue to prove himself. I have a huge selection of players, but I can only field 11 of them, but that doesn't mean that those who play in the starting lineup are not better than the others."
Meanwhile, Arsenal's right-back Lauren, who hasn't played since January, will most likely not feature in the main team this year.
"I don't think you will see Lauren in the team before January. He is making good progress, but still has four or five weeks until he returns to normal training, and then he will need another month to return to the team," the coach said.
