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Arsenal guaranteed to be without seven players vs Monaco amid Gabriel and Partey injury issues

Arsenal welcome AS Monaco to Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night and Mikel Arteta knows it will be a tough test which could allow his side to rise into the top eight of the Champions League.

Arteta will be eyeing another three points as the Gunners attempt to seal a place in the knockout stages of the competition without having to go through a play-off round. There are doubts over a number of players going into the match, however.

Gabriel Magalhaes has missed the last two games with a muscle injury, but his latest activity on social media suggests he could be closing in on a return to action. The centre-back has shared a reel on his Instagram story which shows him taking part in a personal training session - including jumping and stretching.

Giving a general update on his squad on Tuesday, Arteta said: "We have to manage a lot of the players."

"Some of them are probably not going to be fit tomorrow, some of them are still doubts. We still have 24 hours to make those decisions and, hopefully, they're the right ones."

Thomas Partey has struggled since the international break and didn't feature at Fulham. Riccardo Calafiori, Jurrien Timber and Oleksandr Zinchenko were missing from Tuesday's open training session in north London. Arteta had been hopeful of his defenders being fit for European action, "I hope, but it's more a question for the doctors and physios to understand where we are," the manager admitted.

Calafiori is having to be held back, according to the manager. The defender has had a groin issue but the Gunners are doing their best to stop the defender rushing back from another injury.

"We need a cage there because he wants to go out, train and play," said Arteta. "We need to calm him down because he is so willing.

"It is the way he is, the way he plays. It started with the national team with a kick, then he had the knee issue. After that he lost a lot of things. Because of the injuries he had to play more than we wanted. And then he got the issue in his groin."

Elsewhere, Ben White continues his recovery after undergoing a "minor surgical procedure" on a knee issue during the international break. Takehiro Tomiyasu, meanwhile, remains away from the group as he recovers from his own injury issue.

Myles Lewis-Skelly was also out recently with an infected foot, but was back in the squad against Fulham and has been pictured in training ahead of the game against Monaco.

Young defender Josh Nichols was named in the matchday squad to face West Ham, but was back out for Manchester United and Fulham, and Arteta revealed the 18-year-old is also a doubt for this game, stating: "He's been with some issues. We still don't know if he is available or not."

Senior players unavailable for Monaco : White (knee injury), Tomiyasu (knee injury), Partey (muscle injury - doubt), Calafiori (groin - doubt), Gabriel (knee - doubt), Zinchenko (doubt), Nichols (doubt)

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