Mikel Arteta confirmed Arsenal would be without Bukayo Saka for “many weeks” after he suffered a hamstring injury in the Gunners' 5-1 win over Crystal Palace.
Saka was replaced by Leandro Trossard in the 24th minute at Selhurst Park and was seen leaving the ground on crutches last Saturday.
It leaves Arteta with a huge gap to fill his attacking ranks during the hectic festive schedule, with the England international potentially missing some big games.
After games against Ipswich Town and Brentford, the Gunners will take on Brighton, Tottenham and Aston Villa in the Premier League.
Arsenal also have an EFL Cup semi-final against Newcastle United and will face Ruben Amorim's Manchester United in the FA Cup third round.
Saka has been the creative force for Arsenal at the top of the pitch this season, with nine goals and a further 13 assists in 24 games in all competitions.
In the Premier League this season, only Mohamed Salah (26) and Cole Palmer (17) have been involved in more goals than Saka (15), while his 42 chances created were only bettered by Chelsea's Palmer (47).
“It doesn't look good,” Arteta said. “He will be out for many weeks. It is what it is. He is injured, we cannot do anything about it. We are now going to use this time to help him.”
When asked if Saka had 'torn' something in his hamstring, Arteta replied: 'Yes. There are likely ways to prevent the injury.
“There are a lot of factors. We're looking at everything and what we can do differently.”
However, Arteta believed Gabriel Martinelli could fill the right wing in Saka's absence, having scored a goal against the Eagles last time out.
Martinelli's goal in the 60th minute means he has now scored six Premier League goals against Palace, twice as many as against any other opponent in the competition.
The Brazilian also had the most touches in the opponent's penalty area (11) and created more chances (three) than any of his teammates at Selhurst Park on Saturday.
“Yes, that's the first one we've experienced, especially because he's played there before,” Arteta said.
“He played the last game there against Everton and the last game of the season. He did very well.
“He did very well the other day. He scored a goal and created an assist, that's a good option.”
The Arsenal head coach was also not reluctant to test his options over the Christmas period, with Gabriel Jesus returning to form and Ethan Nwaneri also impressing.
Jesus has now scored five goals in his last two games for Arsenal in all competitions (all against Palace), the same number as in his previous 45 games for the Gunners.
“Gabby [Jesus] played there. Ethan [Nwaneri] played there, Leo [Trossard] can play there in relation to the way that unit moves.
“Kai [Havertz] can play there and ask him different things. We'll see, try different things and ask what they think about it.”
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