Myles Lewis-Skelly starts for Arsenal against Bournemouth this afternoon, but Bukayo Saka, Jurrien Timber, Riccardo Calafiori and Martin Odegaard are all sidelined.
This is only Lewis-Skelly’s second Premier League start for Arsenal this season and he replaces Calafiori at left-back.
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Mikel Arteta's side host the Cherries in the early kick-off today. Victory would move them 12 points clear at the top of the table before Manchester City take on Chelsea tomorrow.
Saka has been sidelined since the Carabao Cup final and pulled out of England duty due to an issue he has been managing, while captain Odegaard returned from a knee injury against Southampton but went off in the midweek win over Sporting.
Timber, meanwhile, has not played since going off with a groin problem in the first half of the win over Everton last month.
None of that trio - or Calafiori or Mikel Merino - trained on Thursday and miss out this afternoon.
“There have been changes since yesterday,” Arteta said at Friday’s pre-match press conference when asked about those Thursday training absences.
Asked if all of Saka, Odegaard, Timber and Calafiori could be involved against Bournemouth, he replied: “I don't know, some of them.”
Eberechi Eze is back on the bench having returned to training earlier than expected following a calf injury.
“He's available,” the Spaniard said. “My first conversation with him after he felt a niggle, he wanted to be available the next week.
“We knew that was impossible but the recovery, the will he's shown from day one to get back as quick as possible, is great to watch.”
Kai Havertz and Gabriel Martinelli were both brilliant off the bench against Sporting and combined to score the winner in stoppage time. The pair looked sharp and come into the starting lineup here.
Merino remains out after foot surgery but Arteta is backing him to also return earlier than anticipated.
“He's going to push every boundary. He's out of his boot, doing quite a lot of exercises already.
“He reacted really well to the surgery and he's got no pain. I'm sure there is a chance to make that period shorter - if there is a person that can make that shorter, it's Mikel.”
Confirmed team news
Arsenal XI: Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly, Zubimendi, Rice, Havertz, Madueke, Martinelli, Gyokeres
Substitutes: Arrizabalaga, Mosquera, Hincapie, Norgaard, Eze, Dowman, Trossard, Salmon, Jesus
