Arsenal are hopeful that a spate of illnesses that have spread through the squad will have cleared up in time for their Premier League clash with Fulham.
Kieran Tierney was unable to travel to the Gunners' Europa League first leg clash with Sporting CP on Thursday due to sickness, while Martin Odegaard had to drop out of the squad at the last minute despite having travelled to Lisbon. Fabio Vieira was also understood to be dealing with a sore throat in the build up to the match, but was able to play the full 90 minutes at Estadio Jose Alvalade and registered an assist for William Saliba's opener in the 2-2 draw.
With a crucial match against Fulham coming up this weekend Arsenal will of course be keen to prevent any illnesses spreading among the group. Speaking ahead of the match, manager Mikel Arteta admitted he was hopeful this could be achieved.
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"Obviously we lost Martin today as well," he told football.london . "He could not make the game. And Kieran, and the injured players. Hopefully nobody else picks it up and we have a full squad to face Fulham."
When pressed specifically on whether Odegaard would be available for the match Arteta went on to add: "I hope so, yeah."
As well as the illnesses Arsenal are also struggling with a spate of injuries among their centre forward options. Eddie Nketiah could be a long-term absentee with an ankle problem, while Leandro Trossard is still out with the groin injury he sustained in last weekend's 3-2 victory over Bournemouth.
This could be eased somewhat though by the return of Gabriel Jesus. The Brazilian forward has been back in full training at London Colney and was in contention to travel to Lisbon before a late decision was made not to take him. Arteta told football.london earlier in the week that he does not intend to rush Jesus back after nearly four months out, and speaking ahead of the trip to Craven Cottage, he admitted that the player would ultimately be the one to determine when he would be available again.
"Let’s see," Arteta said when asked whether the former Manchester City forward would be ready to play at Fulham. "He will have only one more training session and he really needs to feel confident and ready to go. He has a big say on that."
If Jesus is unable to play then Gabriel Martinelli is likely to start up top again. Late in the clash with Sporting Fabio Vieira was used as a false nine, while Emile Smith Rowe has also played in the position in the past.
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