Juventus will provide Arsenal's final test before the Premier League season resumes on Boxing Day as the two sides meet in a friendly at the Emirates Stadium this weekend.
And in a major blow for the Serie A giants, legendary central defender Leonardo Bonucci will miss the game after it was confirmed via the club's official website that he suffered an injury following Tuesday's training session and must now rest for 10 days which means Saturday's game comes too soon for a return.
"The medical check-up which Leonardo Bonucci underwent this morning, following a problem reported at the end of yesterday's training, highlighted an inflammation of the adductor longus tendon," the statement reads. "His condition will be re-evaluated in 10 days."
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Bonucci won't be the only senior Juventus player whom manager Max Allegri will be without against Arsenal as Leandro Paredes, Angel di Maria and Adrien Rabiot are still in Qatar ahead of the Argentina vs France World Cup final which takes place on Sunday afternoon.
Of course, defensive trio Danilo, Bremer and Alex Sandro can enjoy their holidays as they aren't expected back until after Christmas following Brazil's quarter-final exit at the hands of Croatia.
Furthermore, Paul Pogba is also set to be unavailable for selection at the Emirates Stadium and this is despite being spotted looking on during a training session earlier in the week. The former Manchester United midfielder is yet to make his official second Juve debut following his summer transfer after undergoing knee surgery.
Having been forced to watch on from afar as his France teammates reached successive World Cup finals, there had been hope that the 29-year-old would be in contention to feature in Juventus' friendlies ahead of the Serie A season resuming, but according to Calciomercato, he needs at least another month before making a full recovery.
It remains to be seen what the situation with Pogba is as he has been active on social media this week, posting images from the club's training centre, but the fact he's not been spotted taking part in a session yet points towards him not being involved against the Gunners.
With that said, Juventus could welcome back five senior players who have already been eliminated from the World Cup. As per Tuttosport, Dusan Vlahovic, previously linked with a move to Arsenal, and Filip Kostic are expected back this week after Serbia were eliminated at the group phase.
Meanwhile, thanks to Pogba's Instagram Stories, Weston McKennie has returned to training following USA's exit against the Netherlands at the round of 16 stage, which indicates former Gunner Wojciech Szczesny and Arkadiusz Milik shouldn't be too far behind as Poland were eliminated at the same stage.
As confirmed by Juventus, the squad are pencilled in for double training sessions on Thursday and if any of the aforementioned quintet are involved, then it could be a clear indicator of them being named in Allegri's squad for the trip to north London.
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