Jurrien Timber, Riccardo Calafiori and Martin Odegaard remain doubts for Arsenal’s Premier League showdown with Manchester City this weekend with Bukayo Saka ruled out.
The Gunners sit six points clear on the summit of English football but City can land one other huge blow to their title hopes with victory on the Etihad on Sunday.
Mikel Arteta has been coping with a variety of injury problems because the international break in March.
Saka has not featured because the Carabao Cup final last month, missing the FA Cup defeat to Southampton, each Champions League games against Sporting CP and the league defeat to Bournemouth last trip.
Speaking this week, Arteta revealed his winger has been battling an Achilles injury. The Arsenal boss was hopeful it was a matter of ‘days, not weeks’ before Saka shall be available again.
But in his pre-match press conference on Friday, the Arsenal boss confirmed Saka will not be available for the trip to Manchester.
‘Bukayo is out. That’s needless to say,’ Arteta said.
‘Hopefully he recovers very soon because he’s an amazing player. He’s beginning to do some stuff, let’s see how quickly he will be with us.’
Martin Odegaard and Jurrien Timber injury latest
Odegaard meanwhile was back within the team immediately following the international break.
But he has missed the last two games together with his international manager Stale Solbakken claiming the Norway star has picked up a minor setback after recent knee issues.
Timber meanwhile has not played because the victory over Everton in mid-March while Calafiori has also missed the last two games.
While he didn’t rule the trio out, Arteta suggested they face an uphill battle being slot in time for Sunday.
‘Yeah we’ll try again, some players are quite close however the turnaround is brief. We’ll try tomorrow,’ Arteta said.
Is Noni Madueke injured for Man City game?
Noni Madueke has served as Saka’s understudy on the suitable for much of the season, starting in his place in recent weeks.
The previous Chelsea star was within the side again on Wednesday against Sporting but was forced off within the second-half.
He’s one other major doubt for the trip up north.
‘We’ve got one other training session tomorrow,’ Arteta said when asked about Madueke. ‘It didn’t look that bad after the sport, and he’s someone who pushes through pain. But we may have to attend and see.’
MORE: Nico O’Reilly injury update ahead of Manchester City vs Arsenal
MORE: Arsenal handed major boost with Man City star ruled out of Premier League showdown
MORE: Gary Neville names Arsenal star who can win Gunners the title against Man City