Arsenal start with both Ben White and Gabriel for today’s crucial Premier League clash with Newcastle.
Gabriel was forced off in Thursday’s 3-0 defeat at Tottenham after what Mikel Arteta feared was a muscle injury, while fellow centre-back White was named on the bench for the north London derby but did not feature as he recovered from a hamstring issue.
Both players’ availability for the game at Newcastle went down to the wire after Thursday’s disheartening derby defeat left Arteta with a big headache at the back.
Rob Holding is suspended after his red card at Spurs, while Kieran Tierney and Thomas Partey were already ruled out for the rest of the season.
Emile Smith Rowe gets the nod over Gabriel Martinelli on the wing with Eddie Nketiah again up top.
Speaking on Saturday, Arteta said: “We will know probably more tomorrow, so we wanted to extend this period as much as possible to understand how they [Gabriel and White] are recovering, how they are feeling, assess them and tomorrow probably we will know more about how they are.
“Tomorrow will be the day we will have better answers, probably not the answers that we want until matchday, but hopefully better answers.”
Arsenal XI: Ramsdale; Tomiyasu, White, Gabriel, Tavares; Elneny, Xhaka; Saka, Odegaard, Smith Rowe; Nketiah.
Subs: Leno, Cedric, Swanson, Salah, Lokonga, Patino, Martinelli, Lacazette, Pepe.
