Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus will return to the Arsenal starting lineup when they host Fulham at the Emirates on Saturday.
Arsenal will be eager to return to winning ways and open up a six-point buffer over Manchester City when they welcome Fulham to the Emirates on Saturday evening. Mikel Arteta has a new injury concern to worry about ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
The Spanish tactician has been sweating over Martin Odegaard’s fitness after the Norwegian playmaker sustained a knock to his knee in the UEFA Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid earlier this week. He should be available to take on Fulham, but Arteta may rest him this weekend to keep him fresh for the second leg against Atletico.
However, Jurrien Timber (groin), Mikel Merino (foot), and Kai Havertz (muscular) remain in the treatment room. Meanwhile, during his pre-match press conference, Arteta provided fitness updates on Timber, Odegaard, and Havertz.
The Arsenal manager said, “I think [everyone is fine], so let’s see how everybody is tomorrow morning. Obviously, we haven’t been able to train much, so tomorrow we’ll have the final update. Let’s see [if Odegaard will be fit for Saturday].”
“Yeah Kai and Jurrien will be out. He [Havertz] has been a huge miss – we’re talking about one of the most important attacking players we have, and he’s been out for seven or eight months. Unfortunately, he’s not been the only one with long-term injuries and players have been missed. The team has shown an incredible capacity to overcome these kinds of scenarios and still be very, very competitive.”
“The focus right now has to be on availability and performance, and Kai is desperate to be on the pitch as quickly as possible. Hopefully for Atletico, he will be available, and he’s pushing every boundary to achieve that.”
David Raya is an automatic pick between the sticks, with Arsenal lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him against Fulham on Saturday. The backline will feature Cristhian Mosquera, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, and Riccardo Calafiori.
As for the midfield unit, there is no looking past Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi in the double pivot, with Eberechi Eze reprising the no. 10 role. Finally, Gabriel Jesus should lead the line for the home side against Fulham, with Leandro Trossard and Bukayo Saka being the two wide attackers.
Predicted Arsenal XI: Raya; Mosquera, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Zubimendi, Rice; Saka, Eze, Trossard; Jesus
