Spoilt for choice: Mikel Arteta will have almost a full Arsenal squad to choose from against Leeds
Arsenal Football Newsletter
Arsenal have been handed a major double injury boost with William Saliba and Jurrien Timber both set to return against Leeds this weekend.
The duo are key starters for the Gunners in defence but were rested completely for Wednesday night’s dead-rubber Champions League win over Kairat Almaty due to what Mikel Arteta described as minor “niggles”.
However, the Arsenal boss has now confirmed that Saliba and Timber are both fit for the visit of Leeds to north London on Saturday afternoon as his side look to bounce back from their first home loss of the season to Manchester United and increase their four-point lead at the Premier League summit.
“They are okay,” Arteta told reporters of the pair at his pre-match press conference. “Obviously they have played a lot of minutes, they've been carrying a few niggles.
“It was a really good opportunity for us to offload them a little bit and refresh them.”
Arteta added that Kai Havertz was also “ready” to face Leeds, having experienced “no reaction” following his first start for Arsenal for 357 days against Kairat.
Havertz played the first half of that eventful 3-2 win and registered an early goal and an assist before making way for captain Martin Odegaard as part of plans to build up his fitness following a long-term knee injury.
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Max Dowman is now Arsenal’s only injury absentee as he continues to recover from ankle ligament damage suffered during an Under-21 friendly against Manchester United last month.
“It was a little bit more than [Cristhian] Mosquera’s,” Arteta said.
“Obviously as well he’s growing and we need to be very careful and a little bit more protective. He has a different schedule as well because he needs to go to school and that.
“We need to respect a lot of things throughout that process. But I think he’s quite close. He’s on the pitch now, he’s doing well and hopefully we’re going to be able to see him soon.”
Earlier on Friday, the club announced that Dowman had agreed scholarship terms for the summer and would sign a professional contract at the Emirates Stadium once he turns 17 in December.