Emotional moment: Zinchenko broke down in tears during champions league press conference today as two Arsenal KEY PLAYERS are now ruled out injured,big blow for Gunners as they’re already begging for draw or is a lose match already
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal squad is as close to being fully fit as it has been all season. After working with consistent niggles and setbacks throughout pre-season and the opening nine league games of this campaign there is now some wiggle room.
The 2-2 draw with Chelsea saw returns to the team for Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard as they dealt with minor setbacks and recovery over the international break. William Saliba was a minor doubt himself and Thomas Partey continued his own route back to match availability.
It was a fortnight of questions and waiting for the team news at 4.30pm on Saturday but when it dropped almost all fears were allayed. Aaron Ramsdale was the biggest missing name from the squad and even that wasn’t fitness related.
The English goalkeeper was out of the side due to the birth of his child, leaving David Raya to keep the gloves and retain the number one spot. Now, with Raya struggling to find his feet at the Emirates Stadium, there is a question to be asked of who willl be picked against Sevilla in the Champions League.
Ramsdale is once more in contention to play and was seen training with his teammates on Monday at London Colney ahead of the game and Arteta confirmed that he had travelled and would be in the squad. Whether or not the former Sheffield United and Bournemouth shot-stopper gets the nod over his Spanish teammate is uncertain though with Raya clearly the first choice at this stage.
It does, however, grant another level of competition in the squad. With very little to worry about in terms of selection for squads, the group is as stacked and ready as it could be. Oleksandr Zinchenko is still struggling to see games out having returned slowly from injury over the summer, he was replaced at half-time against Chelsea, whilst Gabriel Jesus is not yet in top gear after hitting his own issues.
The attack is well stocked though with Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli both back and available to play, Saka is also seemingly ready to stay in the team after missing the Manchester City win and international break. There is one remaining question for Arteta and that is the position of Fabio Vieira.
The Portugal midfielder was left out of the squad against Chelsea without reason, indicating it is not down to an injury and merely a selection choice. football.london believes that this is the case and that the strong group of substitutes including Kai Havertz, Eddie Nketiah, Trossard and Emile Smith Rowe have the edge.
With Trossard, Hazard and Nketiah all coming on and making a difference the decision to leave Vieira out looks to have been justified but fortunately for European action, he can be in the squad with a larger bench allowed. For Arteta, these small questions are nothing compared to the issues he was dealing with for much of the season and there is hope that the results can now continue to reflect this.
