Arsenal will still be without multiple players through injury for the second match of their Premier League defence against Aston Villa on Monday night at Villa Park
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta during a training session at London Colney
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has issued an update on the club's injured players(Image: Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
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Mikel Arteta spoke about all three injured Arsenal players during his pre-match press conference before their Premier League match away to Aston Villa on Monday night.
Bruno Guimaraes, Jurrien Timber and William Saliba all missed the first game of the season against Coventry City last Friday. The former is their most recent absentee, having come off at half-time of the Community Shield success over Manchester City.
Saliba and Timber, however, have not featured for the Gunners since their Champions League final defeat to Paris Saint-Germain. Below is the latest news from Arteta, along with potential return dates for the trio.
Bruno Guimaraes
Arteta has acknowledged that Arsenal are still managing Guimaraes. Asked whether there is concern over his groin injury, the manager said: "No, no, we just managed the last few days with him.
"He's out on the pitch, he's been doing training sessions. But we need to manage a lot to get to Monday in the best possible condition to be able to get selected."
Asked if he is potentially available to play against Villa, Arteta said: "Yes, potentially available, yeah." If not, his competitive debut could come against Chelsea at Emirates Stadium next Sunday.
Potential return date: Aston Villa (A) Monday, August 31
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Jurrien Timber
Arteta offered a positive update on Timber as the player continues to step up his recovery from minor groin surgery earlier this summer. He said: "Jurrien is progressing really well.
"Let's see how he ends up this week; it's the third week in a row that he's been outside, and we have increased his load, so he's on the right trajectory. If everything goes well, I think next week we're going to step it up again."
Timber has played just once since mid-March. That was in the Champions League final against PSG.
Potential return date: Chelsea (H) Sunday, September 6
William Saliba
Arteta shared a brief update on Saliba during his press conference. He said: "Willi, obviously, he's in a much more conservative load management right now, so that's going to take a while."
Unlike his team-mate, Timber, the France international has not had surgery this summer on a back injury and is instead working on a rehabilitation programme. Saliba has been playing in pain since March and was eventually unable to continue during the World Cup semi-final against Spain.
However, he could return around mid-October at the earliest. That would be around the resumption of domestic football after this season's first international break.
Potential return date: Leeds United (H) Saturday, October 10