It's not just the Premier League that is on a temporary break with the World Cup taking place and that's had an effect on several members of the Arsenal loan army this weekend.
Once again, there were no domestic fixtures for Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Ryan Alebiosu, Mika Biereth, Runar Alex Runarsson, Nuno Tavares or Omar Rekik. The same applies to Nicolas Pepe who has been named in the Nice squad for their upcoming training camp in Spain, whilst the idea of Folarin Balogun being recalled to cover for the injured Gabriel Jesus has been discussed.
The good news is that central defender Pablo Mari - on loan at Serie A side Monza - is making great progress after being discharged from the hospital following surgery to reconstruct damaged back muscles after being injured in a supermarket stabbing in Milan in October.
