Arsenal visit Slavia Prague in the Champions League exactly a year after beating them 3-0 in last year's league phase, with Bukayo Saka and Mikel Merino scoring
Mikel Arteta blowing a whistle during an Arsenal training session
Mikel Arteta now has almost a full Arsenal squad to select from(Image: Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
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Bukayo Saka is one of several players set to miss Arsenal's Champions League match against Slavia Prague through injury.
Saka continues to recover from a quadriceps issue sustained during the Gunners' last match in this competition against Bayern Munich. It is believed the winger will be sidelined for more than a month due to the problem and not return until after the November international break.
However, that is the only injury issue Arsenal currently have, with William Saliba returning to full training for the first time this season. The defender has now rehabilitated from a four-month-long back injury.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Tuesday, Mikel Arteta said Saliba is "in a really good place. I think the process and the timings and in the manner the injury has been dealt with, and especially the feelings that Willy has been having along the way, they've been very, very positive.
"So, his evolution has been as expected, which is not always the case. He feels very comfortable.
"He played 45 minutes [behind] closed doors last week, and he feels ready to go. So whether we use him or not now is a matter of what the team needs."
William Saliba looks on during an Arsenal training session
William Saliba has returned to full training this week(Image: Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
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As for Arsenal's opponents, Slavia have several injury issues. They have also been dealing with illness over recent weeks.
Long-time head coach Jindrich Trpisovsky said during his pre-match press conference that "no one has increased and no one has decreased" in fitness since their last match against Jablonec, which they won 5-0.
Speaking specifically about three players, he said first-choice goalkeeper Jakub Markovic has "started training" again after recovering from a back problem and "will be in the nomination". Their main creator, Lukas Provod, also "trained for the first time" on Tuesday and "has permission to intervene in the match."
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However, "he will not play from the beginning" after missing their last two matches. Trpisovsky added that "there is a question mark over" Ange N'Guessan, who "didn't train" on Monday, but "did again" on Tuesday.
The defender scored their third goal on Sunday but was substituted late on and replaced by the returning Stepan Chaloupek. That seemingly means that Adonija Ouanda, Elias Pitak, Hamidou Kante, Igoh Ogbu, Ivan Schranz and Samuel Isife are all still sidelined.
Ogbu has not played all season after rupturing his Achilles tendon. Piatek tore ankle ligaments in September and has not featured since that setback.