Arsenal's preparations for Sunday's Premier League clash against Brighton & Hove Albion are complete with footage from training being released.
The Gunners go into the game on the back of a 2-0 win over Newcastle United last weekend and know a third victory in a row will keep the title race alive regardless of what happens in the Everton vs Manchester City fixture which finishes not too long before kick-off at the Emirates Stadium.
In fact, the dream scenario for the north London outfit to end the day as Premier League leaders once again is to complete the double over Brighton and hope Pep Guardiola's side have one eye on their Champions League semi-final second-leg tie against Real Madrid and slip up at Goodison Park.
READ MORE: What results Arsenal need to go their way this weekend to keep Premier League title race alive
For Arsenal, their mission is easier said than done especially when factoring in the Seagulls' decent record in N5. The visitors put a dent in the home side's top-four push in the corresponding fixture last season and ran out 3-1 winners when the two sides met in the Carabao Cup back in December.
It is a sequence that Mikel Arteta will be hopeful of bringing to an end and ahead of the big game, he and his coaching staff put the first-team squad - and a few youngsters - through their paces during a training session at London Colney on Saturday afternoon. Below is what football.london noticed from the footage that has been released by the club's official photographer.
Zinchenko's status
Arsenal supporters around the world can be forgiven if they're feeling a little confused with regard to Oleksandr Zinchenko's status ahead of the Brighton game. At one stage it appeared the Ukraine international would play no part and that his season had ended prematurely due to a calf injury.
However, Arteta replied with "no" when asked if this was the case and having gone as far to confirm that William Saliba is unavailable for selection because of a back injury, it will have left many scratching their head as to whether or not the Gunners' first-choice left-back will feature on Sunday.
"We have another session tomorrow before the Brighton game. We are trying to get players back for that day if they haven’t trained on the pitch but we will know more tomorrow," the Spaniard said. "With William, it’s for sure that he’s not going to be fit for this game, and we doubt that he will be for the next game. But we want to keep the hope going and make sure we give ourselves the best chance to bring them back."
From the training images, Zinchenko was involved. As a result, it could be that the 26-year-old is in contention to face Brighton after all.
Youngsters called up
As well as Zinchenko, there was a Lino Sousa sighting. Regarded as one of the most highly-rated left-backs in England, the defender arrived in North London during the 2022 January transfer window and has clearly caught Arteta's eye by often training with the senior team.
Named on the bench against Brentford back in September, it's safe to assume that given the teenager is a full-back and the lack of senior options in this department at Arteta's disposal, he has a chance of earning a recall to the Arsenal matchday squad for the visit of Brighton if the aforementioned Zinchenko is unavailable.
With that said, Reuell Walters is also on standby to replace the Ukrainian and not for the first time in recent weeks the wonderkid took part in a first-team training session as he got to grips with Gabriel Jesus at one point.
Xhaka spotted
The past week has been dominated by Granit Xhaka for events on and off the pitch. Heavily praised by Arsenal fans and the media alike for his performance against Newcastle, only to be criticised by Callum Wilson who didn't take kindly to some of his actions at St James' Park.
Now, if reports are to be believed then the midfielder might be bidding farewell to English football in the upcoming summer transfer window as he's been linked with a return to Germany with Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso said to be interested in securing his signature.
As a result, Sunday's game could turn out to be Xhaka's penultimate appearance at the Emirates Stadium in Arsenal colours. Not that he looked distracted by rumours surrounding his future in training as he was focused on the task at hand, even sharing a joke with Gabriel Magalhaes.
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