It was revealed on Thursday that the reigning Premier League right back of the year, Hector Bellerin, will be forced to sit the next month out of action due to an ankle injury.  “Hector is out for four weeks,” claimed Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.  “He got injured in the last 10 seconds against Spurs after a very strong tackle by Danny Rose.”  The match in which Wenger is referring to was a 1-1 draw with their bitter rivals on November 6th.

With the key man set to potentially miss up to eight total matches due to the injury, someone at the north London club has some big shoes to fill.  Defensive midfielder Francis Coquelin does have some experience at playing right back, as he did feature at the position briefly during the early stages of his Arsenal career.  While Coquelin does have the defensive attributes to play along the back four, his lack of pace could be worrisome when matched up against a pacy winger in space.

Gabriel Paulista is another option at the position.  Normally a central defender, Gabriel is a no-nonsense type of player.  Much like Coquelin, the Brazilian possesses adequate one-on-one defending, but is not exactly one of the fastest players on the pitch.  The Gunners could, however, choose to go with three center backs with Laurent Koscielny, Shkodran Mustafi, and Gabriel along the back; however, experimenting with the team’s formation right before a trip to Old Trafford on Saturday would be very risky.

Finally, Wenger could opt to deploy Carl Jenkinson at right back starting against Manchester United.  Jenkinson has only featured in two total matches so far this season for the Gunners after recovering from a significant knee injury while out on loan with West Ham last season.  Jenkinson may not be the most talented player in the Arsenal side, but he is a decent option at right back when fully fit.

Wenger sent the former England youth international to West Ham in the summer of 2014 to gain experience with the fellow Premier League outfit.  After two fairly successful seasons with the Hammers, the west London club made multiple attempts to pry Jenkinson away from Arsenal on a permanent basis.  Nevertheless, the Gunners refused to part ways with the defender and Jenkinson was sent back to the north side of London following the serious knee injury back in January.

Jenkinson played 59 total matches with West Ham, recording two goals and two assists during his 18-month stint with the club.

With Bellerin out of the picture for the next month, Jenkinson appears best suited to give the Gunners the most stable option at the moment.  If Arsenal want to experiment with three center backs at the back, something that Chelsea have had success with this season, they should perhaps do so when they face lesser competition later in the month.  If Jenkinson is included in the starting XI, he would most likely be up against either Jesse Lingard or Anthony Martial when Arsenal play Manchester United on Saturday.