Mathieu Flamini
Reuters

Arsenal have suffered a major injury blow in the form of Mathieu Flamini who has inflamed his groin in the Gunners' 2-0 win over Hull City, according to Goal.com.

The north London club have a tough schedule ahead of them with a home game against Everton on Sunday along with trips to Napoli in the Champions League followed by a trip to the Etihad to face a rampaging Manchester City side who have been in free scoring form this season. Flamini has been a major addition to the side and has played a part in strengthening Arsenal's defence by sitting in front of the backline.

His absence will be a major worry for the Gunners, who have lost games against Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea at home when he was out in October. The midfielder scored his first goal for the Gunners this season against Cardiff City when he raced into the boxed and slotted home an exquisite pass from Mesut Ozil into the goal.

His absence will mean that Mikel Arteta slots straight into the side against Everton but the Gunners are still hopeful and will perform tests on the Frenchman to determine his eligibility.

Meanwhile, Bacary Sagna is expected to come back into the side after missing out against Hull with a hamstring injury while Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs and Olivier Giroud are also expected to return to the starting eleven.

Wenger believes that Arsenal can rely on Nicklas Bendtner to lead the line and rotate with Giroud when required. The Dane scored his first goal of the season against Hull City in a 2-0 victory at the Emirates.

"[Picking Bendtner] was maybe the less obvious decision but he worked hard. I told him 'if you work hard you will get a chance' and at some stage [Olivier] Giroud needs a breather as well. It's good to see that we can rely on him and he can come up with a performance," Wenger told www.arsenal.com.