Arsenal are back in Champions League action this week as Mikel Arteta’s side host Monaco at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night.
The Gunners will look to get back to winning way after having to settle for a point against Fulham on Sunday afternoon. They found themselves 1-0 down at Craven Cottage after just 11 minutes through Raul Jimenez’s goal, but set-pieces came up trumps again with William Saliba scoring the equaliser in the second half.
Concentration now turns back to the Champions League with Arsenal looking to finish in the top eight positions during the league phase. Arteta’s side currently sit in 10th place, two points adrift of German giants Bayern Munich in eighth.
Wednesday’s opponents, Monaco, sit one place behind Arsenal in the table. Both teams have picked up 10 points from their opening five games, but the Gunners lead on goal difference.
Ahead of the game, Arsenal have some injury worries. Full-backs Jurrien Timber, Riccardo Calafiori and Oleksandr Zinchenko, as well as defender Gabriel Magalhaes and midfielder Thomas Partey, are all doubts for the match.
Gabriel has missed the last two Premier League matches. He has since provided an update on his fitness on social media.
Any absences through injury will provide other players with a chance to stake their claim for a place in the starting line-up. That is the case with midfielder Jorginho.
Absences at right-back meant that Partey covered in that position against Fulham at the weekend. Jorginho then slotted into his position in midfield.
It’s a position that he is likely to play again on Wednesday night, and the Italian has hinted that will be the case. On his Instagram story he has shared a pre-match video previewing the match against Monaco, that usually happens when a player is expecting to play at least some part in the game.
For Arteta he could have some selection decisions to make. There is now a doubt over the fitness of Partey, meaning he may not be able to cover at right-back, and doubts over Timber mean that left-back selection could be a problem too.
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Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus with the Arsenal Therapy Dog Win during the Arsenal Men's team group shoot at London Colney on September 18, 2023
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