Arsenal striker given 'stay at home' order three days before Leeds United visit

Arsenal are without Gabriel Jesus in the Europa League this week as the Brazilian forward has been told to ‘stay at home’ by Gunners boss Mikel Arteta.

Jesus played an instrumental role in the north London club’s 3-2 win over Liverpool last weekend, and despite playing on at the time, appeared to suffer a head injury following a clash with the Reds’ Kostas Tsimikas.

Arsenal take on Norwegian outfit Bodo/Glimt on Thursday evening, a club situated within the Arctic Circle who have enjoyed domestic and relative European success of late.

The Gunners will then return to the UK ahead of Sunday afternoon’s trip to face Leeds United and Jesse Marsch at Elland Road.

“We felt that with everything he’s been through in the last few weeks that it would be better for him to stay at home,” Arteta said, describing Jesus’ situation.

The expectation is that the Brazilian striker will be made available to Arteta this weekend when they face Leeds, but featuring in midweek was deemed an unnecessary risk.

The Spaniard also revealed ‘a few [injured] players’ have also not travelled to the Scandinavian country for Thursday night’s Europa League encounter, but would not disclose names.

Arsenal’s last visit to Elland Road ended in a 4-1 defeat for the hosts as previous head coach Marcelo Bielsa’s depleted side were well-beaten.

Leeds are currently on a five-game winless streak and face a tall order to turn their fortunes around against the Gunners, with the London club having won eight of their nine Premier League fixtures so far this season.