Arsenal’s Welbeck out for three weeks with groin injury

The 26-year-old, who has scored three times for his club this season, is also unlikely to feature for England in its upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Slovenia on October 5 and Lithuania on October 8.

Manchester United will also play in the third round of the League Cup on Wednesday when it hosts Championship side (second tier) Burton Albion.

According to the club’s playmaker Henrikh Mkhitaryan, United may struggle to maintain its explosive start to the Premier League season if injured midfielder Paul Pogba is out for long. Pogba hurt his hamstring during United’s win over Basel last week and will undergo further scans to determine his recovery period.

The France international, who captained United against the Swiss champions, limped off in the 3-0 win and some reports have suggested he could be out for 12 weeks with a muscle tear.

But manager Jose Mourinho has said the nature of the injury would not be known until after the results of the scans.

United thumped Everton 4-0 over the weekend with Marouane Fellaini stepping in for Pogba but Mkhitaryan said the club would miss Pogba’s creativity that has helped it script big victories this season.

“It’s hard, because he’s a top player for us,” he told France’s SFR Sport. “It’s going to be very difficult, but the coach knows how to make up for that and we’re going to help him come back stronger.”

Mourinho’s side shares top spot in the Premier League table with Manchester City and has 13 points from five games. Both Manchester clubs have scored 16 goals and conceded only two.

United’s next match will be at Southampton on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Everton midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson believes the team showed plenty of signs it was improving despite the heavy defeat to United.

Sunday’s 4-0 loss to United was Everton’s third league defeat on the trot with the 3-0 humbling at the hands of Italy’s Atalanta in the Europa League last week adding to its woes.

Sigurdsson, Everton’s record signing who arrived in the close season along with a host of new recruits as the club spent 145 million pounds ($196.23 million), said there were signs the squad was gelling.

“Yes – it is hard to say that after a 4-0 loss but we will stay together, stay positive and keep working,” the Iceland international told the club’s website. (Reuters)