Bruno Guimaraes is being assessed after taking a knock at Aston Villa, while Arsenal will make a late decision on Jurrien Timber before facing Chelsea.
Arsenal are still to make a decision on Bruno Guimaraes’ availability ahead of Chelsea’s visit to the Emirates on Sunday, after picking up a knock during the Gunners’ win against Aston Villa
Guimaraes played the final 30 minutes of Arsenal’s win, having missed the opening day victory over Coventry City.
During Friday’s press conference, Mikel Arteta provided an update on the Brazilian midfielder.
“He had a knock against Villa and he is being assessed. Hopefully tomorrow he will be okay for training.”
It means Arsenal have a midfield decision to make before Chelsea arrive at the Emirates.
Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard and Myles Lewis-Skelly formed the midfield trio at Villa Park, with Guimaraes coming on for Lewis-Skelly with 30 minutes remaining as the Gunners looked to close out the match.
Guimaraes, who arrived from Newcastle this summer, has yet to make his first competitive start in an Arsenal shirt.
Cristhian Mosquera is another name on the watchlist ahead of Sunday.
The defender started next to Gabriel Magalhaes against both Coventry and Aston Villa, with Ezri Konsa coming on late to replace the Spaniard and make his Arsenal debut at Villa Park.
Arteta said afterwards that Mosquera had felt as though he was about to suffer a problem rather than sustaining a confirmed injury, and his latest update offered further reassurance.
“It was more precaution than anything else, so we will have to see how he feels.”
If Mosquera is not fit to start, attention will turn to Konsa to make his first start for the Gunners.
Jurrien Timber Closing in on Return
There was more positive news about Jurrien Timber.
Having stepped aside for the World Cup, the Dutch defender has been working his way back to full fitness, missing Arsenal’s opening two Premier League fixtures. The right-back was seen during Arsenal’s opening training session on Thursday, giving further hope he is close to returning for the Gunners
“Yeah, he is in really good condition at the moment. He is in a good place.” Arteta said.
Pressed on whether Timber could feature against Chelsea, Arteta gave little away as to whether he would be part of the squad.
“We will decide tomorrow after training.”
If Timber is passed fit, he would give Arsenal another option across the back four, especially with William Saliba still out.
Saliba is yet to feature this season following an injury during the World Cup. The timeline for his return is still undefined.
“Yeah we don't know how many weeks he will be out. The progression has been really positive but we need to wait and see how to see how he puts some load into it.”
“We know that we have to respect certain timings. The progression has been really positive in the last few weeks, but we need to wait and see how that bone reaction will start to put some load into it.”
So Saliba will miss the Chelsea game, with Arsenal continuing to monitor his progress as they look to increase his workload.
Arteta still has Gabriel, Mosquera and Konsa as senior centre-back options, and Timber could add to that list if he comes through Saturday’s session unscathed.
Final decisions on Guimaraes, Mosquera and Timber are likely to come after Arsenal’s final training session on Saturday.
Arsenal head into Sunday’s Emirates showdown with Chelsea having taken maximum points from their opening two Premier League games, and they’re yet to concede a goal.