Francis Coquelin will miss at least two months with a knee injury.

Arsene Wenger suggested Mathieu Flamini or Calum Chambers could fill in for Coquelin as Arsenal's defensive midfielder.

“I’m always cautious. It will be at least two months but I don’t want to speculate more than that,” said Wenger when asked about Coquelin. “I must say we have been hit very hard in November. We have lost a few players.”

Arsenal could use the January transfer window to bring in a replacement.

“It is of course a disappointment to lose him in the longer term but we have in the squad the players who can compensate. We have lost a player of quality for a while but we know that can happen,” he added.

“I will give myself time, we have players who play in this position like Mathieu Flamini and players who can play there like Calum Chambers.

“Sometimes this is a good opportunity for other players to turn up and do the job. I will do what is needed in January, knowing as well it is not an ideal transfer market.”