Arsenal look set to be boosted by the return of Gabriel for Saturday’s Premier League clash with Newcastle.
The Brazilian international and fellow defender Ben White were both absent from the Gunners squad on Wednesday night, when they beat Preston 3-0 in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.
Gabriel injured his knee playing in last week’s thrilling 2-2 draw with title rivals Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium.
He went down early on in the second half and, after initially trying to carry on, was forced to come off.
Arteta, however, hinted on Tuesday that Gabriel’s injury was not too serious as he eased fears over a long lay-off.
“We are still assessing him, it doesn’t look bad at all. He was much better than expected, so hopefully he’ll be fine,” Arteta said.
Speaking on Friday, Arteta gave a further positive update when asked if it was good news on Gabriel: “Yes. We have a training session today. If he’s able to complete that he will be available. He hasn’t had any training sessions yet but if he can do that today he will be available in the squad.”
White played the whole game against Liverpool last week, but was then omitted from the squad for the trip to face Championship side Preston at Deepdale.
Asked for a further update on Friday, Arteta was more uncertain as he said: “With Ben, we don't know yet. He could not train, he could not get involved so let’s see what happens.”
Quizzed on if White was still suffering from a lingering groin issue, the manager clarified: “No, this is relating more to a joint.”
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard has been progressing well in his recovery and is hoping to make his own return before the November international break.
The midfielder has missed the last 11 games across all competitions after injuring his ankle playing for Norway at the start of September.
However, he will definitely miss out again on Saturday as Arsenal kick off a run of three successive crucial away games in a week against Newcastle at St James’ Park in the lunchtime kick-off, along with defender Riccardo Calafiori, who is expected to miss a period of weeks with a knee injury sustained in the recent Champions League win over Shakhtar Donetsk.
“Ricci and Martin are out definitely,” said Arteta, who also remains without full-backs Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney due to injury though saw Jurrien Timber play 45 minutes at Preston after being forced off against Liverpool along with Gabriel.
On if Odegaard could possibly feature when Arsenal travel to face Inter Milan in the Champions League at the San Siro next week, Arteta replied: “Now is the stage he is going to start doing certain work with us and just see how he deals with pain, if he is moving naturally enough and if he is physically at the level required to compete.
“But with the work rate and the hours he has put in I would be surprised if the moment he starts training with us we don’t say he is ready, so hopefully soon.”
Arteta went on to add that Arsenal were not expecting Tomiyasu to return before this month’s international break after the recent setback from a knee injury suffered during pre-season.
“No, I don’t expect him to be available before then unfortunately,” said the Spaniard.
