Arsenal travel to Southampton on Sunday looking to finish the 2024/25 season with a win.
The Gunners will want to secure second place in the Premier League ahead of what is a crucial summer for Mikel Arteta's squad. "[We] want to have as many points as possible," the Spaniard told the media ahead of the trip to the south coast.
"You are always here representing this club to win and to play in the manner that we want to do. We want to achieve the best defensive record, the golden glove that we are still there to play and finish the season again on a high with a good test and always respecting the competition."
The north Londoners will be without Jurrien Timber and William Saliba for the clash against the Saints, however. Timber has undergone ankle surgery while Saliba suffered a hamstring injury in last weekend's 1-0 win over Newcastle. football.london understands both players should be able to return in time for pre-season.
Arteta explained on Thursday: "Jurrien, he had a surgery on Tuesday morning on his ankle. He's been feeling that discomfort for many, many weeks. He's been navigating through the season with that issue, and it needed to be resolved, so he's going to be out for a while.
"And Saliba, he's had something in his hamstring the first half, just before half-time, and again, he's going to be out for a few weeks." Asked to provide a timescale on Timber, Arteta added: "We don't know yet. It will depend how the recovery goes. It will be weeks, but we don't know exactly how much. Hopefully, it will be somewhere near the pre-season, if everything goes well, but we don't know yet." Regarding a timeframe on Saliba, the Spaniard said: "A few weeks, yeah."
Kai Havertz is in contention to start against Southampton after making his comeback against vs Newcastle last week. "You could tell how excited he was," Arteta said of the German.
"He's been working so hard. I think he's done great with the medical stuff to get back in the shape and in the form that he is at the moment. He was desperate to contribute and I'm really happy to see him back."
Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Magalhaes and Takehiro Tomiyasu are the club's long-term absentees and will not return until next season. So, when looking at the official Arsenal website, the Gunners have 17 senior players available for selection for the game vs Southampton. As per Premier League rules, a club is allowed to name a squad of 20 players for a Premier League match.
Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly, who are classed as Arsenal Academy players on the Gunners official website, will be included in the squad as normal. Jack Henry-Francis was named in the matchday squad to face Newcastle last week so it's possible the midfielder makes the trip once more for this one.
Possible Arsenal squad for Southampton: Raya, Neto; White, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Calafiori, Lewis-Skelly, Tierney; Rice, Partey, Merino, Odegaard, Nwaneri, Jorginho, Henry-Francis; Trossard, Martinelli, Saka, Sterling, Havertz
Senior players unavailable for Southampton: Tomiyasu (knee injury), Jesus (knee injury), Gabriel (hamstring injury), Saliba (hamstring injury), Timber (ankle injury)
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Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus with the Arsenal Therapy Dog Win during the Arsenal Men's team group shoot at London Colney on September 18, 2023
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