Arsenal supporters are eagerly awaiting Mikel Arteta's press conference on Friday with the Gunners boss set to give updates on eight players in relation to their fitness
Christos Tzolis, Max Dowman and Kai Havertz
Christos Tzolis, Max Dowman and Kai Havertz all pulled out of international duty (Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
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Arsenal supporters across the globe will be eagerly awaiting Mikel Arteta's press conference on Friday ahead of the weekend clash against Leeds United.
It has been a long international break but players have now returned to north London having represented their countries over the last three weeks. Arteta will speak to the media around 24 hours before Saturday lunch-time's fixture against Daniel Farke's side and three topics will likely dominate the press conference.
One of those topics is Arteta's new contract, with the Spaniard signing a new deal keeping him at the club until the summer of 2030. The second will be Manchester City after the Premier League found them guilty of all charges relating to breaking the competition's financial rules over a nine-season period.
Perhaps the topic fans will care about most is team news. Arsenal have a number of fitness concerns going into the clash at Emirates Stadium and there are question marks over a handful of stars.
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Ben White, Cristhian Mosquera and Piero Hincapie returned to training over the break and all look set to be included in the matchday squad. White and Mosquera had been nursing hamstring injuries, missing one and five matches respectively, while Hincapie was an unused substitute on the bench at Brighton.
The fitness of Christos Tzolis and Kai Havertz is less clear, however. The winger was taken off just 18 minutes into Greece's 2-2 draw with the Netherlands in the Nations League with a suspected hamstring injury. Havertz, meanwhile, was forced off in the first half of Germany’s Nations League clash with the Netherlands and returned to the Gunners for further tests.
Declan Rice pulled out of the England squad due to load management and was spotted in Dubai during the break. Ezri Konsa pulled out of England duty before the clash against Czechia after feeling "discomfort".
Thomas Tuchel said of the defender: "He left camp to get treatment for both of his issues now but I think nothing major but not worth the risk taking. We were happy with the attitude that he showed to stay in camp and be ready for Croatia and have a good match but unfortunately he picked up another one in the match. But from a knock, not a muscle injury or something."
Max Dowman was another who pulled out of international duty, with the teenager withdrawing from Ben Futcher’s squad ahead of England Under-19's game against Belgium. Dowman did feature in England’s matches against the Republic of Ireland, Norway and the United States, registering a goal and an assist in those games.
In Arsenal's batch of training pictures released on Thursday, all of White, Mosquera, Hincapie and Dowman were spotted to have taken part in the session. There was no sign of Tzolis, Havertz, Rice or Konsa, however. Elsewhere, William Saliba continues his recovery from a back injury and could make his return in November or December.