After an excellent start to the season that has seen them top at the first international break, Arsenal face their trickiest test so far with the visit of Tottenham Hotspur to the Emirates this Saturday. The Gunners have yet to beat a 'big six' side this season after losing a closely fought match to Manchester United earlier this month, and could silence plenty of the doubters with a victory over Antonio Conte's men.
For such a test Mikel Arteta will want all his best players available to him, but it seems as though fates have conspired against him so far. Kieran Tierney should be fit after missing Scotland's 0-0 draw with Ukraine but there is still some doubt over Oleksandr Zinchenko, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Martin Odegaard and Thomas Partey.
football.london understands that Arsenal will assess all four of them at London Colney in the coming days, and are hopeful of having them fit for Saturday's crucial match. However, if Partey, in particular, is unavailable it raises a familiar question for the Gunners. In his absence, they struggled at the business end of last season, and despite extending Mohamed Elneny's deal and viewing Albert Sambi Lokonga as someone who can play in the six position, there are still doubts over the club's ability to find someone who can replicate what Partey does. Over the international break however, a solution may have emerged.
