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Sam Hill

Star defender absent, Man Utd team news hint - Five things spotted in Arsenal training

Arsenal look to continue their perfect start to the Premier League season as they face Manchester United at Old Trafford this afternoon.

The Gunners remain the only team in the English top-flight to have won their opening five fixtures this season, and could go four points clear at the top of the table with win against United. Mikel Arteta's side face a huge test of their title challenge credentials today and could be without a number of first team players for the trip to Old Trafford.

Martin Odegaard and Aaron Ramsdale are doubts ahead of the game after picking up knocks in the win over Aston Villa earlier this week. Oleksandr Zinchenko is yet to return to training after suffering a knee injury that has seen him miss the last two games, with Kieran Tierney impressing at left-back in his place.

READ MORE: Arsenal lineups vs Manchester Utd: Odegaard misses out, Ben White boost, Smith Rowe chance

Ahead of the highly-anticipated clash, football.london has spotted five main things from the Gunners' latest training pictures as Arteta puts his squad through their paces.

Lokonga instructions

Albert Sambi Lokonga came into the side against Aston Villa for the injured Thomas Partey and looks set to continue on alongside Granit Xhaka in midfield for the clash against United.

The young Belgian looked assured on the ball and put in a solid performance earlier this week, but faces a much tougher test at Old Trafford this afternoon. In preparation for Arsenal's trip to face Erik ten Hag's side, first team coach and set piece expert Nico Jover was pictured offering instructions to Lokonga, hinting that the 22-year-old will start and play a key role in defending from corners and free kicks.

Marquinhos involved

Marquinhos was involved in first team training once again after the Gunners failed to bring in a replacement for the outgoing Nicolas Pepe on Deadline Day. The young Brazilian will likely take a place on the substitutes bench for the game at Old Trafford with Mikel Arteta giving him plenty of first team exposure after signing this summer.

No Odegaard or White

Martin Odegaard may well have trained with the Gunners first team ahead of the trip to Manchester today, but the club captain did not feature in any of the released training pictures.

Odegaard is currently being assessed ahead of the game against United after picking up a knock in the 2-1 win over Aston Villa on Wednesday.

Ben White was not pictured in any training photos either, but is expected to continue on at right-back for Arteta's side with Takehiro Tomiyasu and Cedric Soares both available as well.

Ramsdale absence

Aaron Ramsdale was also absent from the training pictures ahead Arsenal's trip to Old Trafford. Similar to Odegaard, Ramsdale is being assessed with Matt Turner ready to deputise should the Gunners' No.1 be ruled out.

Mikel Arteta offered an update on the fitness of Ramsdale, Odegaard and Zinchenko in his press conference on Friday. The Spaniard said: "Those two they’ve been assessed. We will see more tomorrow.

"Hopefully they’ll be available to train with the team. Unfortunately with Alex, he’s missed two games and still hasn’t been able to train with the team yet."

Matt Turner ready

Summer signing Matt Turner trained as usual with the first team and could be set to make his debut this afternoon if Ramsdale is ruled out through injury.

READ NEXT:

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