Robin van Persie to miss at least seven games for Arsenal

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The Dutchman was carried off on a stretcher during Saturday's friendly against Italy and scans conducted in Holland last night revealed he has ruptured ligaments in his right
ankle.

Van Persie suffered the injury following a full-blooded but fair tackle by Juventus centre-back Giorgio Chiellini just 11 minutes into the match and had further tests in Rotterdam this morning before flying to see a specialist in Serbia.

Arsenal said in a statement: "Following the care given to Van Persie by the Dutch FA, he will travel back to London this week and continue his treatment with the Arsenal medical team at London Colney. Van Persie will be out of action for approximately six weeks."

While the news is not as bad as was first feared because no bones were broken, it remains a savage blow to Arsenal's title hopes as he will miss Chelsea's visit to Emirates Stadium on 29 November and the trip to Liverpool in mid-December.

Van Persie has only managed to start just over half of Arsenal's League matches since the summer of 2006 but as Wenger remodelled his side in a 4-3-3 formation this season, he scored eight goals in 14 matches and has become the forward line's focal point.

Theo Walcott is expected to return to training this week but Nicklas Bendtner remains sidelined for a month after groin surgery, meaning Croatian forward Eduardo will be asked to lead the line in Van Persie's absence.