Arsenal [Images] suffered another injury blow ahead of Sunday's Premier League game against Manchester United [Images] when midfielder Mathieu Flamini was ruled out for up to three weeks with an ankle injury on Thursday.

The Frenchman suffered the injury in the first half of Tuesday's Champions League defeat by Liverpool when he was replaced by Gilberto Silva before halftime and the Brazilian is set to start in his place at Old Trafford.

"I believe Mathieu will be out for three weeks," manager Arsene Wenger told Arsenal TV Online on Thursday.

"It's a big blow but Gilberto has a lot of quality and experience. He will come in. He can help the team recover and focus.

"Apart from that we don't have any other injuries from Tuesday. We have a few bumps and bruises but nothing special.

"Robin van Persie is available. He had two good sessions yesterday and today. He looks to be OK and we'll see how we go from here. But Bacary Sagna is out."

Arsenal almost certainly need to win on Sunday to retain any hope of taking the title. They are third on 71 points, three behind Chelsea and six behind United, with five games remaining.

(Writing by Mitch Phillips, editing by Padraic Halpin)

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