Arsenal take on Liverpool in the league on Saturday and will be boosted with the return of Mikel Arteta, Jack Wilshere, Abou Diaby and Mathieu Debuchy.
Arsene Wenger looked pleased that the players looked and by the fact that he is close to having his complete squad available for selection. He said, “They were all involved on Tuesday and it went well. Theya ve no problem after that coming out of the game. They are back available in training, a bit short still of top competitive level certainly but thata s normal. Theya ve been out for a long time but I was quite surprised by how fit they looked and the quality of their performance – it was good.”
However, he claimed that he was not sure whether any of them will play a part against the visiting Reds.
The Gunners boss won’t be pressured to play any of the returning players as his team has performed very well recently, and in their absence. Six wins on the trot means another three points against Liverpool will take them above second place Man City, who do not play Crystal Palace until Monday.
The Frenchman gave the news of Alex Oxlade Chamberlain still missing out and also said that Danny Welbeck will be out of the game, though there remained an outside chance that he could be available.
“Oxlade-Chamberlain is still out and not available and Danny Welbeck came back from England with a slight knee injury. It looks like he has a little chance to be available for Saturday still,” the Frenchman said.
Arsenal fans won’t be too disheartened by the news of Welbeck missing out. Their recent upturn in form has coincided with the prolific form of Olivier Giroud. Since the Gunners’ last defeat to Tottenham, Giroud has hit nine goals in 10 games in all competitions for the side, and helped the side quietly consolidate themselves in the top 4. The Premier League player of the month even said that his side had a shot at winning the Premier League title.
He said, “Yes [we can win the title] but it will be difficiult, I try to be honest, I believe we need to win every game. Let’s win every game and then see their results If they win all their games, their destiny is in their hands. We know what we have to do and we want to keep it up.”
Probable Line-up (4-2-3-1): Ospina; Bellerin, Koscielny, Gabriel, Monreal; Coquelin, Ramsey; Walcott, Ozil, Alexis; Giroud