Mikel Arteta was coy on the fitness of a number of key Arsenal players ahead of today’s Premier League clash against West Ham.
Gabriel is one of those, with the defender forced to come off late during Tuesday’s 5-1 win over Sporting CP in the Champions League.
Arteta says Arsenal have to “wait and see” as to whether the Brazilian will be fit to face the Hammers, while he also revealed there are other unspecified doubts.
“We have another training session,” he said on Friday morning. “We have to see how the boys are today. A few weren’t able to train yesterday, but hopefully yes today. We will have to wait and see.”
Arteta rotated his team for last week’s 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest and he could be tempted to do so again on Saturday, with Arsenal hosting Manchester United on Wednesday.
Gabriel Jesus, Jorginho and Leandro Trossard all started against Forest and we will be pushing to face West Ham. Trossard impressed off the bench against Sporting, scoring Arsenal’s fifth goal, and he could come back in for Gabriel Martinelli.
Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu both remain sidelined with knee issues, though fellow full-back Kieran Tierney was back in the matchday squad in Lisbon in midweek after five months out with a hamstring injury.
Predicted Arsenal XI (4-3-3): Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Saka, Havertz, Trossard
Time and date: 5.30pm GMT today on Saturday 30 November 2024
TV channel and live stream: Sky Sports
Venue: London Stadium
Referee: Anthony Taylor
Arsenal squad from: Neto, Raya, Setford; Calafiori, Gabriel, Heaven, Kiwior, Saliba, Tierney, Timber, Zinchenko; Havertz, Jorginho, Lewis-Skelly, Merino, Nwaneri, Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Jesus, Martinelli, Saka, Sterling and Trossard
Injured: Tomiyasu (knee), White (knee)
Doubt: Gabriel