Arsenal midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan will be out of action for at least six weeks because of a foot injury, the Premier League side revealed on their website on Tuesday.
Mkhitaryan fractured the metatarsal in his right foot in last Wednesday's Carabao Cup defeat by Tottenham and was replaced at half-time. He missed the win against Burnley at the weekend.
Arsenal said the Armenian playmaker is "expected to return to full training in six weeks".
Mkhitaryan has been a regular under Unai Emery and has scored four Premier League goals this season.
The 29-year-old will miss key league games against Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City as Arsenal continue their pursuit of a top-four place.
Mkhitaryan arrived at the Emirates Stadium almost a year ago as part of the swap deal that took Alexis Sanchez to Manchester United.
‘Another miracle'
Rafael Benitez believes it will be "another miracle" if his Newcastle side retain their Premier League status.
"We have to be realistic and understand that we will be in the bottom half during the whole season," said Benitez ahead of the Boxing Day clash away to his former side Liverpool who are looking to cement their lead at the top of the table.
"For me, it is almost clear and if we can be better than three teams, it will be another miracle.
"It was a miracle last year. People were thinking, 'Oh, you finished 10th...', but with a couple fewer wins, we could have been in the bottom five, so it was a miracle.
"If we do the same this year with teams spending even more money than last year, it will be a miracle."
He added: "I know what is coming now and I know where we are. You can see the team — the team is trying a lot of things, but still it's not enough sometimes to get the points, and it will be like that.
"If we are under pressure and we feel this pressure, we will not be better, we can make more mistakes," explained Benitez.
Newcastle are currently five points above the bottom three heading into the busy holiday period after last weekend's goalless draw with Fulham.
