Leeds United welcome the Premier League leaders to Elland Road on Saturday.
Arsenal have been left sweating on the fitness of two key defenders ahead of this weekend’s Premier League trip to Leeds United.
The league leaders head to Elland on Saturday afternoon and are set to face a different Leeds side to the one they thumped 5-0 back in August. Daniel Farke’s men have lost just one of their last 11 matches across all competitions and taken points from the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool in front of their own support.
Arsenal, meanwhile, have dropped points in their last three Premier League games and have midweek Champions League commitments to get through before focusing on Leeds. Mikel Arteta’s side have already secured qualification for the knockout stages ahead of tonight’s virtual dead-rubber at home to Kazakhstan champions Kairat Almaty.
The Gunners are expected to rotate heavily this evening but some changes are due to fitness concerns, with neither William Saliba nor Jurrien Timber involved in training on Tuesday. After that session, Arteta held his pre-game press conference and confirmed the defensive duo will miss out with ‘niggles’.
“No, those aren't [available],” Arteta said of the pair. “They have some niggles and it's a good opportunity now that we make a different kind of work with them to get them in the best possible conditions that we can offer them."
Midfielder-cum-striker Mikel Merino was also absent from Tuesday’s session, albeit he is suspended for this evening’s Champions League clash with Kairat Almaty. Declan Rice is also banned, however, but did train with the group.
Other Arsenal team news ahead of Leeds United weekend trip
Arsenal have been boosted by the potential returns of two senior players, with Riccardo Calafiori and Kai Havertz spotted in training on Tuesday. The pair could be involved this evening, although it is unlikely they will get 90 minutes with both being carefully managed.
Calafiori picked up a muscle injury during the warm-up ahead of Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Brighton on December 27 and hasn’t featured since. Havertz has played just 59 minutes of competitive football all season after a serious knee injury suffered in August required surgery.
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Max Dowman, the teenager who won a controversial penalty in that 5-0 win over Leeds back in August, remains sidelined with an ankle ligament injury. Key first-team players who have played a lot of football this season are expected to be rested this evening.
Leeds will hope to take advantage of their weekend visitors’ recent wobble to claim another impressive home result. They’ve given bloody noses to just about everyone at Elland Road with only Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa leaving victorious.
Any result will likely have to be earned without a trio of first-team players, however. Gabriel Gudmundsson is expected to miss out with an adductor issue while Jaka Bijol is unlikely to recover from a hamstring strain in time to feature. Dan James remains sidelined with a hamstring tendon issue that’s kept him out since November.
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