Maurizio Sarri has provided an injury update on N’Golo Kante, speaking at a press conference in Baku before training in the Olympic Stadium.
The French midfielder has been in doubt for the Arsenal game since he suffered a hamstring injury vs Watford.
Goal.com has reported that Kante suffered a knock to his knee during a recent training session.
The manager is still to decide whether N’Golo can play tomorrow.
“I don’t know,” responded Sarri when asked if Kante would be fit.
“He had a little problem on Saturday, a very little problem with his knee. It’s not really a very serious injury.
“The problem is the timing because we had only four days to try to recover him. We are trying. At the moment we don’t know. We will try until the last moment. We will try tomorrow, but at the moment we don’t know.
“He is 50/50 at the moment. Yesterday 60/40 for the no, today 50/50. He was a little bit better this morning.
“But we are in trouble in midfield. At the moment we have only three midfielders for three positions. N’Golo is really important for us. He is the only defensive midfielder we have. Without N’Golo it’s a problem for us.”
According to reliable journalist Simon Johnson, Kante did travel with the squad to Azerbaijan, though it hasn’t been confirmed yet. He is likely to be assessed ahead of the clash and the medical staff will issue their verdict on his fitness.