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Arsenal starlet Ainsley Maitland-Niles out for 6-8 weeks with leg fracture

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Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal v Manchester City - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - August 12, 2018 Arsenal's Ainsley Maitland-Niles shakes hands with Manchester City???s Riyad Mahrez as he leaves the pitch after sustaining an injury REUTERS/Eddie Keogh EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or "live" services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details. — Ainsley Maitland-Niles only managed 35 minutes at the Emirates (Pictrure: Reuters)

Ainsley Maitland-Niles has suffered a small fracture to his left leg which could rule the Arsenal star out for up to eight weeks.

Maitland-Niles started the Gunners opening clash in the Premier League, a 2-0 defeat to Manchester City, but the 20-year-old was forced off in the 35th minute at the Emirates.

The versatile youngster picked up a knock after a challenge with City right-back Kyle Walker.

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Maitland-Niles started at left-back versus Pep Guardiolas champions as Unai Emery was without injured duo Sead Kolasinac and Nacho Monreal at the start of the 2018/19 campaign.

Summer signing Stephan Lichtsteiner came on to replace the injured Maitland-Niles for the remainder of the clash.

Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal v Manchester City - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - August 12, 2018 Arsenal's Stephan Lichtsteiner comes on as a substitute to replace Ainsley Maitland-Niles Action Images via Reuters/John Sibley EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or "live" services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details. — Stephan Lichtsteiner replaced the youngster against Manchester City (Picture: Reuters)

On Thursday, Arsenal confirmed that the England Under-21 international had sustained a small fracture to his left fibula and will miss up to eight weeks of action.

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Maitland-Niles will be absent when Arsenal travel to Chelsea this weekend but the news that Monreal has returned to first-team training comes as a boost to Emery.

Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal v Manchester City - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - August 12, 2018 Arsenal manager Unai Emery Action Images via Reuters/John Sibley EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or "live" services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details. — Unai Emery has shown faith in the young defender (Picture: Getty)

Maitland-Niles signed a new contract in north London this summer and claimed that he was looking forward to working with Emery.

It feels fantastic knowing that Im going to be a part of the squad, and a big part of the squad, he said.

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It means a lot with the new head coach coming in and Arsenal tying me down [with a new contract]. Im very pleased.

We had a little meeting. He said that he wants all of his players to work hard and Im no stranger to doing that. It will be second nature to me.

I think [the high-pressing game] suits me a lot, too. Ive got a lot of pace to give to the team, pressing up high and winning the ball back as soon as possible is a major factor in football.

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