The World Cup may now be in full swing with the first round of matches finishing today, however, it has not stopped the focus for Arsenal moving away from the return of the Premier League on Boxing Day. The hope will be that players return from the competition unscathed with ten participants out in Qatar.
With that in mind, the potential for players to miss the return of domestic action remains a real possibility. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta sees eight of his starting eleven currently away with their national sides with only Oleksandr Zinchenko, Gabriel Magalhaes and Martin Odegaard missing out.
Arsenal are set to return to Premier League action on December 26 against West Ham United. Both teams failed to progress in the Carabao Cup and therefore will not get a competitive fixture before Christmas to ease them back into competition.
