Mikel Arteta will be hoping to have a number of his Arsenal cohort back and ready ahead of the big North London Derby this weekend against Tottenham following a number of key players missing in recent weeks.
The Gunners had the likes of Martin Odegaard, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Cedric Soares and Reiss Nelson absent for the most recent Brentford victory prior to the international break.
Fast forward to the end of the final international break before the FIFA Qatar World Cup, and Thomas Partey, Kieran Tierney, and a few others are facing a race against time to make themselves available for the early kick-off at the Emirates Stadium.
Tierney returned from Scotland international duties early whilst the Ghanaian midfield anchor sustained an unfortunate knee injury during the Brazil friendly. Speaking after that news, manager Otto Addo admitted this had been as more of a precautionary measure. "Hopefully Thomas will be healthy very, very soon," he said. "We didn’t want to take that risk in a friendly game to play him against Brazil, but surely playing a player like him against a squad like Brazil would have been helpful."
READ MORE: Arsenal given Kieran Tierney fitness boost and remain hopeful on Thomas Partey and Zinchenko
With the uncertainty over availability for a number of stars this weekend, Arteta will be needing to rely on certain players to get the job done against the Lilywhites. Their opponents themselves have a few injury issues to contend with but Antonio Conte's squad are not facing the same level of doubts as the Gunners.
At the moment, as well as the defenders playing a big part in stopping Harry Kane, former Arsenal and Man United defender Mikael Silvestre has pinpointed one of the players who missed the Brentford win as the potential key to seeing the red side of North London collect maximum points.
"Few manage to stop Harry Kane from scoring," he told bettingexpert. "Son’s just scored three goals in his last game but Kane is still the main one. So, Saliba, Gabriel and Benjamin White will start at the back four and Arsenal have the big task of stopping Kane from scoring.
"And then for Arsenal, Odegaard is the playmaker and he has a lot of influence. He’s captain this year and he has the most to offer. I know Jesus is highly rated and and one of the main guys but if I have to pick one, it’s probably Martin Odegaard."
Arsenal fans: How much of a blow would it be if Martin Odegaard wasn't available for this game due to injury ahead of the busy schedule? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below!
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