Arsenal completed their final training at London Colney ahead of Saturday's Premier League clash with Leeds United as Mikel Arteta received key fitness updates
Kieran Horn and James Smailes
09:48, 31 Jan 2026
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(Image: Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
Arsenal have wrapped up their final preparations on the training ground ahead of the Premier League encounter with Leeds United this afternoon. The bulk of Mikel Arteta's preferred starting XI will have probably enjoyed two complete sessions at London Colney during recent days, with a rotated squad utilised for the Champions League victory over Kairat on Wednesday.
Kai Havertz featured in that match and it marked his first start in almost 12 months following two separate injuries. He found the net and provided an assist during his 45 minutes on the field, giving Arteta a significant lift regarding his recovery.
With the Germany international now back in contention, injury issues have considerably reduced for Arteta. Jurrien Timber and William Saliba have shaken off knocks, though fitness worries in defence still appear to be notable with a key player absent from training.
With all of that considered, football.london has picked out all the significant moments observed from Arsenal training on Friday.
Havertz boost confirmed
After his previous extended outing, Havertz was missing for the subsequent few matches. However, that doesn't appear likely to occur this time, with the 26 year old seen in full training.
That backed up Arteta's encouraging update from his press conference prior to the journey to Elland Road. He said: "Yeah, he's ready, obviously he started the day, obviously it's been a long period and now we need to manage that load and the games that we're going to select for him to start, but there was no reaction to that.
"I think it was super positive, you could see straight away the impact that he can have in the team, so yeah, he's ready."
An action photograph of Havertz and another of him catching his breath have been posted to Arsenal's official website, with it undoubtedly evident he is working diligently to regain full fitness.
Key defender concern
Whilst Arteta confirmed that no new injury problems arose on Wednesday evening, Cristhian Mosquera was conspicuously missing from the training photographs.
The Spaniard featured for the entire duration of the victory over Kairat, but was not captured in any of Friday's images, either on the pitch or in the gymnasium. Riccardo Calafiori was only in the latter but still present after recovering from an injury of his own.
Mosquera spent six weeks sidelined before returning at the San Siro. Having featured for the full 90 minutes, it is conceivable he is following a different recovery schedule with his workload being managed and thus may still be in the squad to face Leeds.
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Starting XI clues
There was a somewhat noticeable pattern in Arsenal training with several players - all of whom are anticipated to start - not wearing bibs in what appeared to be a small-sided match. Captain Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba, Martin Zubimendi and Declan Rice all appeared to be in one team, with that expected to form the core of Arteta's starting XI on Saturday afternoon.
Jurrien Timber, Bukayo Saka and David Raya are also anticipated to feature, but the remaining positions remain undecided. Gabriel Jesus and Viktor Gyokeres are vying for the striker role, though it could be Havertz who receives the opportunity as he was spotted in that training match without a bib on.