Arsenal defender pulls out of national squad through injury days before North London derby

Arsenal have suffered an injury scare ahead of the upcoming North London derby following a bizarre incident in Friday's Nations League clash between Italy and France.

Luciano Spalletti's side recorded a headline-grabbing 3-1 win over their Group A2 opponents thanks to goals from Federico Dimarco, Davide Frattesi and Giacomo Raspadori.

It was a night full of positives for the Italians, who have struggled on the international scene in recent years.

But a huge setback was an injury to centre-back Riccardo Calafiori. The defender's evening was cut short following an unusual collision with Ousmane Dembele.

Alessandro Bastoni produced a crunching challenge on Dembele, who went flying into the air, and as he landed the winger caught Calafiori's calf with his boot, studs first.

The 22-year-old tried to power through before being replaced five minutes later.

After the game, Italy manager Luciano Spalletti gave an update on Calafiori's situation, saying: “We need to assess Riccardo but with our staff, we’ve a good chance to have him back with us for the next game."

However, it has emerged that Calafiori has left the Italy camp to be assessed by the Arsenal medical staff ahead of their upcoming Premier League clash against Spurs.

The centre-back, who arrived from Bologna in the summer for a reported £42 million, gave his thoughts on the night in a social media.

Arsenal will be without Declan Rice for Sunday's game after he was sent off in their 1-1 draw with Brighton last weekend.

Image credit: Getty

Summer signing Mikel Merino is also expected to miss the game following a freak injury in training. In fact, the midfielder will miss a "few weeks" after the shoulder injury.

"Yes, very unfortunate," Arteta said regarding Merino's injury. "He had a collision and he has a shoulder injury. It looks like he’s going to be out for a few weeks."

The Spaniard added: "He was really excited and everything was looking really good. He landed on the floor and Gabi landed on top of him and it looks like he has a small fracture probably."