5-pack of Gunners could miss Arsenal opener

Arsenal kicks-off its 2016-17 Premier League campaign in less than a month and Arsene Wenger's lot could be without five marquee stars.

Euro 2016 participants Olivier Giroud, Laurent Koscielny, Mesut Ozil, and Aaron Ramsey are all likely to be absent for the tricky league opener while Copa America winner Alexis Sanchez faces a race for fitness after picking up an ankle concern during the finale against Argentina.

Without Giroud and Sanchez, Wenger's options up front are limited as Danny Welbeck recovers from long-term injury. That leaves Theo Walcott and Alex Iwobi as potential starters against Jurgen Klopp's high-pressing side unless Arsenal dips into the summer market.

Each season seems to present a similar selection crisis for the north London side, and this current dilemma bares resemblance to the summer of 2014.

World Cup-winning Germans Ozil, Per Mertesacker, and Lukas Podolski all missed out on a 2-1 win at Crystal Palace that season before Giroud broke his foot in the club's second match against Everton and subsequently missed four months.

With Wenger likely to extend vacations for the first-team regulars, the gaffer will be hoping not to replicate 2014's stumbling start.

Arsenal would go on to win only four of its 12 league fixtures that season and two months into the campaign sat eighth in the table, 15 points adrift of leaders Chelsea.