Mesut Ozil injury news: Ozil not in squad due to back spasms

Mesut Ozil injury news: The Arsenal midfielder was not included in the game against Tottenham due to back injury.

Arsenal will be up against Tottenham Hotspur in season’s first North London derby later tonight. The Gunners have a chance to go on level at points with Pochettino’s side.

Unai Emery’s side slipped to 5th in the table after three consecutive draws in the league, before ending the disappointing run with a win at the Vitality Stadium last weekend. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored the winner for Arsenal.

The Gunners, however, received a big shock as one of their star performers is not included in the squad to play the derby.

Mesut Ozil was left out of the squad, after it was reported that the player’s jersey was not in the dressing room ahead of the clash. While there were various speculations in the immediate aftermath of the announcement, the reason behind Ozil’s absence has now been revealed.

Mesut Ozil injury news:

Arsenal have announced that Ozil has been suffering from back spasms. This is not the first time when a back problem ruled out Mesut Ozil this season. In October, Mesut Ozil missed the game against Fulham with a similar issue.

🚨 TEAM NEWS IN 🚨

Here’s how we line up for #ARSTOT pic.twitter.com/6QTtFKvcZV

— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) December 2, 2018

Back issue has been a regularity for Mesut Ozil throughout his career, and this has now forced him to miss the season’s first north London derby.

⚠️ We’re without @MesutOzil1088 today – he misses #ARSTOT after suffering a back spasm in training pic.twitter.com/8PajoF1tYm

— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) December 2, 2018

Earlier, Ozil’s participation in the game was under much speculation, as the player was dropped for the game against Bournemouth. Mesut Ozil sat on the match for the entirety of the game, and Unai Emery later stated that the game required physicality as the reason for dropping Ozil.

Sympathy for Mesut Ozil, have also done my back many times doing chores, jogging etc. Would recommend taking up a competitive sport as a healthy hobby

— Barney Ronay (@barneyronay) December 2, 2018

The midfielder has started in 10 Premier League games for Arsenal so far.

Whatever the reason behind today’s Mesut Ozil absence – and he may well be injured – it’s fair to say that Arsenal are not getting anywhere near value for money from him since he signed that new contract.

— arseblog (@arseblog) December 2, 2018