"He is \[ready to start\]," the Arsenal manager told reporters.
"You can see now, not only in games, every day in training, how much he wants it. He's going to deserve a chance soon.
"I was watching when he was seven months already on the pitch the way he was moving and how much he wanted it. I think he wrote a beautiful letter there explaining what football means to him and how it affects his life. I think it was something beautiful.
"I think that's probably the biggest quality of Gabi, bringing people together, connecting with people and generating a lot of uncertainty in the opponent. When you see him today, the amount of spaces that he was involved in, that's his biggest quality. So we need to exploit that."
In defence, however, Arsenal's options are more limited, with injuries to **Ben** **White**, **Cristhian Mosquera** and **Gabriel** expected to limit their options on Tuesday evening. 16-year-old defender Marli Salmon made his debut against Club Brugge earlier this month.
**Kai Havertz** is also expected to be out with an injury, as is headline-grabbing youngster **Max Dowman**.
### **Their Season So Far...**
Surely, surely... surely? Runner-up in each of the last three Premier League seasons under Arteta, this surely must be the season that the Gunners clear the seemingly ever-evasive hurdle of winning the title.
The first-half-of-the-season numbers certainly point to those of title contenders: top at Christmas, with 12 wins from 17 matches, just 10 goals conceded and two defeats, and a two-point lead over Manchester City.
Arteta's side are the second-highest scorers in the league at this stage (31) but – most pertinently – have remained very difficult to score against, in contrast to their more open title rivals City (41 goals scored, 16 conceded).
Although there's been the occasional big margin thrown in – just ask Tottenham Hotspur – professional wins have been the name of the game, mostly by one (or two) goals.
So proved the case back in late October, when former Palace man Eberechi Eze's moment of magic for Arsenal was enough to settle a tight contest against his former club.
But as April's 2-2 draw between Arsenal and Palace proved – when Jean-Philippe Mateta scored the Eagles' eventual Goal of the Season with an incredible chip from distance – Oliver Glasner's side very much enjoy upsetting the odds.