Gabriel Magalhaes and Riccardo Calafiori remain huge Arsenal injury doubts for Sunday's Premier League clash vs Fulham. The defensive duo were absent from Wednesday's 2-0 win over Manchester United - but are still pushing to return this weekend.
During last Saturday's 5-2 victory against West Ham, Gabriel and Calafiori were both early withdrawals, while the clash at home to United clearly came too soon for either to feature. In their absence, Mikel Arteta chose to deploy Jakub Kiwior and Oleksandr Zinchenko - with both fringe stars helping Arsenal keep a clean sheet.
Despite that, Arteta will be keen to have two of his first-choice defenders back in the starting XI ahead of such a crucial period in the season. Following the midweek triumph, Arteta was asked about the pair, but remained tight-lipped on whether they would feature against Fulham.
"We will have to see over the next few days. Gabi was a big risk to play, because he felt something against West Ham. Sunday he's going to be a possibility." On Calafiori, the Arsenal manager added: "With Ricci, let's see how he reacts."
With just four days between the two games this week, Gabriel and Calafiori likely have just three training sessions to prove their fitness and it appears one of those chances has gone. According to Sky Sports, neither were spotted out on the grass at London Colney for Arsenal's open training session on Friday.
It was noted, however, that the pair were instead working indoors on their recovery. Soon after that, Arteta held his pre-Fulham press conference and provided fresh injury updates on Gabriel and Calafiori but, unsurprisingly, did not give too much away.
"We have a few," he said. "It's matchday minus 2 so we have to modify a few players.
"Until tomorrow's training session, it's very difficult to say." As Arteta points out, there is another opportunity for Gabriel and Calafiori to train before the trip to Fulham.
After going off with an issue against Sporting CP, Gabriel made just one session before being declared fit to start against West Ham. So if they are able to get through Saturday's training, it is likely Arteta will deem both available for selection.