Arsenal handed huge suspension twist as key star set to miss Bayern Munich clash

Arsenal have been handed a big suspension update way in advance of their next Champions League clash against German champions Bayern Munich. The Gunners beat Slavia Prague 3-0 on Wednesday evening - with Declan Rice avoiding a ban through not receiving his third caution of the Gunners' European campaign.

Martin Zubimendi was absent from the squad owing to suspension, but he will be back available to play Bayern at Emirates Stadium later this month.

One player that will not be selected is Luiz Diaz after he was shown a straight red card in Bayern's latest European outing against Paris Saint-Germain.

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The Colombia international had bagged a sensational first-half brace against the holders, but he headed down the tunnel just a few minutes before all the other players following a strong challenge on Achraf Hakimi which left him in tears. He was subsequently replaced by Senny Mayulu.

Just a few hours earlier, a Mikel Merino brace and Bukayo Saka penalty saw Arsenal continue their 100 per cent winning start to the Champions League.

"We were emotionally controlled," Arteta said on his side's display.

"I think the margin at the end looked comfortable but I don't think it was a comfortable game at all."

Despite having a penalty awarded against them, the Gunners have not conceded in 10 games with that call being overturned after VAR intervention.

"If we are able to nullify that from the position, then the opposition has very few ways to score," Arteta added on the desire to not concede. "We could have done some things better. But we did things really well too."

Arsenal are back in Premier League action this weekend for a third consecutive game away from home when they take on Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

Last weekend, Arsenal strengthened their position at the top of the Premier League by beating Burnley 2-0 - with Rice and Viktor Gyokeres on target.

The latter picked up a muscle injury not too long after that - with Arteta's update on Monday far from promising. "He's definitely not available [against Slavia Prague]," Arteta said.

"He hasn't trained today, and we need to do some more tests and scans to understand the extent of the injury. So, we are digging in a little bit more to understand where we are in terms of the injury, and we will announce it when we know more."

Arsenal are already without a number of attackers including Kai Havertz, Noni Madueke and Gabriel Martinelli. Club captain Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus are also out with knee injuries.