Mikel Arteta continues to play a game of injury cat and mouse with everyone outside of Arsenal. Ahead of the standout Premier League fixture of this midweek, hosting Manchester United, he was in no mood to give anything away, as usual.
"We're going to have a meeting this afternoon," he said when asked about team news at his pre-match press conference on Tuesday afternoon. "We have done a training session. We monitored and kept some players away from certain activities. After that meeting, I will decide which ones are fit and available and who will start."
It leaves a group of four key players - likely all starters right now - in limbo. At least publicly, it is not clear just how fitness-tied Arsenal will be when Ruben Amorim's rejuvenated United team turn up at the Emirates Stadium.
Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu will both be out, that is for definite, but the only player certain (barring a late issue picked up) is William Saliba. He could be partnered by Gabriel Magalhaes but it is not for sure.
"They all want to play," Arteta said bluntly when Gabriel's social media message after the win at West Ham - "See you on Wednesday" - meant anything. Don't read into it, the boss said.
Gabriel was taken off at half-time at the London Stadium having opened the scoring with a trademark header from a corner. He was punched when attempting another later on in the game as Lukasz Fabianski tried to meet the ball with his fist.
The decision to remove him wasn't down to a concussion worry either. "It was related to the previous injury he had in Lisbon," Arteta explained afterwards, referring to the injury scare that saw him fail to finish the final five minutes against Sporting CP just over a week ago.
Like Gabriel, Riccardo Calafiori was also subbed off earlier than anticipated. He lasted an hour at West Ham. Fortunately, it was more of a precaution. "Well, he’s been dealing with little niggles in the last few weeks, obviously, he’s had a very serious knee injury and he’s doing really well but we have to manage his minutes," addressed Arteta. "Today we have to do the same."
Midfield duo Mikel Merino and Thomas Partey didn't even make it to the matchday squad. "Mikel Merino (knee issue) and Thomas Partey (muscle issue) both miss out on tonight’s fixture", a club statement explained prior to the 5-2 win on Saturday.
There has been a lack of clarity over the problems and latest update for both players specifically, leaving it to be imagined that they are one of those being decided on prior to the game. The rest of the squad appear to be fit, unless Arteta is withholding details on new players who had to be, as he described, "kept away from certain activities."
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