Arsenal confirms the exclusion of defender Mustafi from the FA Cup

Arsenal on Friday confirmed that their defender Shkodran Mustafi will not be playing in the FA Cup final against Chelsea on August 1. The centre-back has been ruled out of the side following a hamstring injury that he sustained in the last game. 

The 28-year-old was forced to go out during the side’s semifinals clash against Manchester City and he also did not play against Aston Villa in the Premier League game earlier this week. 

Mustafi was initially day-to-day for the FA Cup final but the club’s boss Mikel Arteta confirmed his absence from the upcoming match as he said during a conference “Musti is injured, we need to assess a little bit how long he’s going to be out,”

“I doubt [he will be fit for the cup final], we have to see how he evolves in the next few days. At the moment I doubt it.”

Mustafi has started nine out of the last ten matches of Arsenal and before that he only made it to the starting lineup just ones under the manager Unai Emery last year. 

In the absence of Mustafi, chances are the club will go with Rob Holding in the finals. Holding had also replaced the injured Mustafi against Aston Villa which they lost by 1-0 and he is also expected to keep his place in the side’s next Premier League match against Watford on Sunday.