It has been an excellent start to the Premier League season for Arsenal as they sit just one point off the lead despite playing three of their trickiest away fixtures in the first seven games with wins at Aston Villa and Tottenham whilst drawing with Manchester City. Unbeaten in all games, it is perhaps the worst time for the international break to arrive.

The second of the season so far, Arsenal will have to be content with yet another one next month as the cycle goes on. Yet for the Gunners, there are some positives with many players staying behind to work with Mikel Arteta.

The break allows the absence of domestic matches to pass by days of recovery for many members of the squad. There is a total of 11 senior figures who will be present at the Sobha Realty Training Centre over the next week-plus.

There are six players currently classed as injured: Kai Havertz, Martin Odegaard, Kieran Tierney, Jurrien Timber, Ben White and Oleksandr Zinchenko are all recovering from knocks. Havertz only pulled out of the German squad on Sunday evening with complaints of a knee issue hoped not to be serious and more precautionary.

While injured, although active full-team training is unlikely, the players can work on rehabilitation, tactical insights and in some cases light exercises and ball work. Arteta can use this time effectively and Mikel Merino has certainly had the benefits while being out since his arrival and only just last week returned to action.

Takehiro Tomiyasu is another, like Merino, who has returned to full fitness and made an appearance in the win over Southampton. He has not been called up to the Japan squad as it was thought best for his minutes to be managed and recovery prioritised.

Goalkeeper Neto will be the most senior figure at the club as David Raya is with Spain. He will be working with some of the youth stoppers like 16-year-old Jack Porter who made his debut before the on-loan Bournemouth keeper.

Jorginho is another older member of the squad, not called up for the games with Italy. His minutes have diminished significantly and there have been rumours of the former Chelsea midfielder looking to further his coaching knowledge which may well get greater attention in this week off from domestic football.

Thomas Partey has also now pulled out of international duty with Ghana. Reported to be a medical issue will see him miss games with Sudan.

Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling are the final pair who have not been called up by Brazil and England respectively. The pair certainly have hopes of returning to international action and will hope breaking into the Arsenal first team in the near future will help with that.