Arsene Wenger fears Olivier Giroud will miss crucial games against Liverpool and Chelsea after hamstring injury in EFL Cup

The striker pulled up during Arsenal's 1-0 victory over West Ham holding his hamstring

Giroud hobbled off late into the game (Getty)

Arsene Wenger expects that Olivier Giroud will miss Arsenal’s Christmas fixtures with a hamstring strain he picked up on Wednesday night’s 1-0 win over West Ham United.

Giroud limped off in the second half after going down clutching his hamstring, and the French striker told Wenger afterwards that it felt like a bad injury. It will be assessed on Thursday afternoon but Wenger expects him to be out for three weeks, which would keep him out until 9 January.

“Overall it was a positive night for us, apart from the fact that we lost Olivier Giroud,” Wenger said afterwards. “In his [Giroud’s] statement, it does not look very good. We have to wait, normally nowadays we scan 48 hours after the injury, so that will happen on Thursday. We will have a precise idea what grade his hamstring [strain] is. When we listen to him, the pain is quite big, but the grade [of injury] is not always linked with the pain.”

Wenger expects three weeks’ absence as the standard hamstring strain outcome, keeping Giroud out of the crucial Liverpool and Chelsea games at the Emirates.

“It puts more pressure on the rest of the squad when you have injuries,” he said. “We have to sit down and analyse what we can do. Overall, it is very worrying when you start to lose players. We have to see how I can manage the schedule.”