Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard will return to the Arsenal starting lineup when they host Brighton & Hove Albion at the Emirates on Saturday.
Arsenal will aim to continue the recent winning run when they welcome Brighton & Hove Albion to the Emirates on Saturday afternoon. Mikel Arteta has a new injury concern that is hampering his preparations ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
The Spanish tactician is sweating over Gabriel Martinelli’s fitness after the Brazilian international picked up a knock in the EFL Cup quarter-final against Crystal Palace earlier this week. Martinelli and Piero Hincapie (muscular) face late fitness tests to determine their availability.
However, Ben White (thigh), Gabriel Magalhaes (groin), Cristhian Mosquera (ankle), Kai Havertz (knee), and Max Dowman (ankle) remain in the treatment room. Meanwhile, during his pre-match press conference, Arteta provided fitness updates on Gabriel Magalhaes, Havertz, and Gabriel Jesus.
The Arsenal manager said, “I think it will be a matter of days, if not weeks [for Havertz]. Let’s see in the next step how he responds to that. He’s a player that we missed a lot, a player that brings the team into a different dimension. So, I’m really happy to have him back very soon.”
“We’ll have to wait and see. He [Gabriel Magalhaes] hasn’t trained yet, he’s still doing his rehab. But hopefully as quickly as possible because we know the situation that we have in the backline.”
“He [Gabriel Jesus] is very fit. We’ve been gradually increasing his minutes. But [against Crystal Palace] as long as he was OK, everybody was happy to let him go on. When we get into fatigue mode, we took him off, but we’re very happy.”
David Raya is an automatic pick between the sticks, with Arsenal lining up in a 4-3-3 formation in front of him vs Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday. Jurrien Timber, William Saliba, Riccardo Calafiori, and Myles Lewis-Skelly will form the backline. Hincapie will start instead of Lewis-Skelly if he is fit and available.
As for the midfield unit, there is no looking past Martin Zubimendi, Declan Rice, and Martin Odegaard in the middle of the park. Finally, Viktor Gyokeres will lead the line for the home side against Brighton & Hove Albion, with Leandro Trossard and Bukayo Saka being the two wide attackers.
Predicted Arsenal XI: Raya; Timber, Saliba, Calafiori, Lewis-Skelly; Zubimendi, Rice, Odegaard; Saka, Gyokeres, Trossard