SETTABLOID

Arsenal star Oleksandr Zinchenko made a triumphant return to international duty on Tuesday night, scoring a well-taken volley to help Ukraine secure a crucial 2-1 victory over Albania in the UEFA Nations League. The win ensures Ukraine’s place in the promotion play-offs, offering them a chance to move up to League A.

Having missed Ukraine’s opening fixture of the break against Georgia and the previous October internationals due to injury, Zinchenko returned to the starting lineup for the pivotal League B encounter. It marked his first appearance for his national side in over two months.

Playing in midfield, Zinchenko wasted no time making an impact. Less than five minutes into the match, the Arsenal man capitalised on a deflected shot, volleying it into the net with precision. His early strike set the tone for Ukraine’s strong start.

Just minutes later, Roman Yaremchuk doubled Ukraine’s lead, giving them a 2-0 advantage. While Albania managed to pull one back from the penalty spot in the 75th minute, Ukraine held firm to secure the win.

The international break is over and attention now turns to one of the biggest periods of Mikel Arteta’s reign at Arsenal. The Gunners play 10 times before 2025 with their fate in three competitions on the line.

After a difficult run, Arsenal are fourth in the Premier League table, nine points off Liverpool at the top. In the Champions League, they sit 12th meaning they are facing a potential play-off to qualify for the knockout stages.

Having failed to win any of their previous four Premier League games, the Gunners will look to return to winning ways this weekend when they take on Nottingham Forest. Nuno Espirito Santo’s men are level on points with Arsenal meaning it is set to be a tough test.

Elsewhere, Arsenal are still searching for Edu’s replacement after their former sporting director left the club earlier this month. Paris Saint-Germain’s Luis Campos, Bayer Leverkusen’s Simon Rolfes and ex-Real Sociedad man Roberto Olabe are among those that have been linked with the vacant role.

Newcastle United are, reportedly, already eyeing possible replacements for Alexander Isak amid links with Arsenal. The Sweden striker faces an uncertain future at the Magpies – despite his contract having four years remaining – as heavy-handed rumours continue to swirl.

The Gunners have long been in the market for attacking reinforcements to provide competition for Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus with Isak among a host of names mooted. Mikel Arteta’s side have also faced reports of interest in the likes of Ivan Toney and Victor Osimhen – who has also captured European-wide attention.

Arsenal’s hunt for strikers has been a frustrating one with little options in the market or facing eye-watering transfer and/or wage demands from prospective targets. Premier League-proven Isak has four goals and two assists in nine appearances so far this season, including his header in the 1-0 win against Arsenal in November.

Arsenal are reportedly keen on signing Las Palmas star Alberto Moleiro, as per Spanish outlet Fichajes.

Mikel Arteta became the Gunners boss in a dire state back in 2019 but has now helped them become a Premier League title challenger over the years.

They came very close to winning the league in the last two campaigns but were eventually pipped to the post by Manchester City on both occasions. So, the North London club have started the new campaign with the ambition of finally winning it this season.

Arsenal signed Riccardo Calafiori and Mikel Merino last summer and hired Neto and Raheem Sterling on a loan move to reinforce the squad.

They had a promising start to this term but after accumulating only two points from the last four games, Arteta’s side have now found themselves behind in the title race.

Arsenal will be eager to get back to winning ways once the international break comes to an end.

The Gunners have failed to win in four Premier League games and are yet to triumph in a match this month.

This has led to Arsenal going nine points behind leaders Liverpool in the table, and it’s something they’ll be desperate to put right.

Now,  Steve Nicol has criticised one Gunners summer signing for having “done zero” since arriving at the Emirates Stadium.

Steve Nicol deems Arsenal’s Raheem Sterling the worst signing of the season so far

The player in question is Raheem Sterling, who joined Arsenal on loan from Chelsea in the last few minutes on deadline day last summer.

Sterling has made eight appearances for the Gunners since his move from Stamford Bridge, of which four have been starts, and he has registered one goal.

Nicol deemed Sterling the worst signing so far in the 2024/25 Premier League season, something which baffled some of his colleagues.

Dan Thomas said: “Sterling seems a weird one, Stevie, out of everyone…” To which Nicol replied: “What’s he done?”

Thomas responded: “But what did you expect him to do? He’s going to be playing bits and pieces…”

Arsenal will have a new opportunity to put an end to a four-game winless run in the Premier League when they host Nottingham Forest at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

They will return to action following the final two-week international break and are braced with a busy schedule in the lead up to the festive period. During the break, Mikel Arteta has had fresh injury concerns to deal with as Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard are among the list of players who are doubts to face Forest.

Ahead of the clash, the Gunners, who are fourth in the table, are level on 19 points with Forest in fifth. Third-placed Chelsea also share the same points ahead of their trip to Leicester City this weekend.

As it stands, the Premier League table is as tight as ever after 11 matches. Seventh-placed Fulham, Newcastle and Aston Villa all share 18 points and are one point behind Brighton in sixth.

Bukayo Saka

Injury: Suffered a knock during Arsenal’s draw with Chelsea before the international break.

Declan Rice

Injury: Broken toe which led him to be substituted during the draw with Chelsea.

Potential return date: Nottingham Forest (H) – November 23.

Leandro Trossard

Injury: Knock.

Potential return date: Nottingham Forest (H) – November 23.

Ben White

Injury: Joint problem and has undergone a minor procedure on an injury earlier this month.

Potential return date: Unknown.

Takehiro Tomiyasu

Injury: Knee.

Having not featured since October, Arteta said he did not expect Tomiyasu to return before the November international break.

Potential return date: Nottingham Forest (H) – November 23.

Riccardo Calafiori

Brazil played out a 1-1 draw against Uruguay in their World Cup qualifier at home.

The Selecao dominated the opening half in Bahia, but they failed to break the deadlock.

A wondergoal from Federico Valverde opened the scoring for the visitors in the 55th minute.

However, Brazil pulled level seven minutes later with a sensational volley from Gerson.

Arsenal star Gabriel Magalhaes was once again dominant in the heart of the Brazil defence.

The centre-back had 114 touches with 95 out of his 99 passes completed – an accuracy of 96 percent.

He won six out of nine ground duels and 100 percent of his aerial challenges (2/2).

Magalhaes also won 100 percent of his tackles with eight recoveries and two clearances.

The £63 million-rated star has been in the form of his life and he was exceptional for Brazil last night.

The 26-year-old has turned into a superb central defensive partner alongside Marquinhos.

The injury absence of Eder Militao has proved a blessing in disguise for the Gunners ace.

Magalhaes will now return for training at London Colney ahead of the weekend’s game.

Arsenal have not kept a clean sheet in the last seven Premier League appearances.

They have been winless in five of those and need to return to winning ways against Nottingham Forest at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The club are already nine points behind Liverpool for the top spot and have no room for error going forward if they want to challenge for the title.

The last international break of 2024 is almost over, meaning the Premier League is back this weekend.

Arsenal return to action on Saturday when they take on Nottingham Forest at the Emirates Stadium (3pm kick-off). The Gunners are looking to end a run of three games without a win in all competitions.

They sit in fourth place in the Premier League, nine points behind leaders Liverpool. Nottingham Forest’s positive start sees them in fifth place, on the same points as Arsenal, something that adds extra emphasis on the game.

Arsenal are reportedly eying a move for Real Madrid youngster Arda Guler, who is unhappy with the Spanish club, according to reports in Spain.

Sport claim that the 19-year-old is unhappy with his game time with Real Madrid, which has prompted clubs to show an interest. Arsenal are one of those named, with the club said to see the Turkey international as a similar move to the one they made for Martin Odegaard, who was also struggling for game time at Real Madrid.

Arsenal have suffered with persistent injury problems this season which has paused their hopes of a Premier League title unless they can rediscover some major consistent winning form. That starts this weekend when Nottingham Forest come to the Emirates Stadium.

Mikel Arteta has been able to work with plenty of his squad over the break who have not gone away with their respective nations for a variety of reasons. However, it is still true that injuries are plaguing the side.

David Raya is thankfully fit as is both William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes who make up three of the back four and goalkeeper positions. With Ben White expected to be out for an undisclosed period of time after a minor procedure, Jurrien Timber is therefore likely to move to right-back.

At left-back there is hope that Riccardo Calafiori recovers from his latest injury issue. However, should he not then Myles Lewis-Skelly who impressed again for England’s Under-19s could yet get the nod over Jakub Kiwior or Oleksandr Zinchenko.

Into midfield and Thomas Partey did not join up with Ghana but there has been no suggestion of an injury and so should be available barring any late indications to the contrary. Declan Rice did miss international duty through injury and therefore Mikel Merino will get another start in the hope of improving his own form.

Despite their topsy-turvy start this season, Arsenal boast – arguably – the best defensive partnership in the entire Premier League in William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes. And it appears their admiration for each other is not only restricted to match-days or training sessions at London Colney.

Currently away on international duty, those who aren’t injured anyway, some of Arsenal’s most famous faces are getting down to business, for their respective nations. Saliba, playing the full 90 minutes, was in action for France on Sunday night as they claimed an impressive victory away to Italy.

France, with Saliba in their ranks, topped League A Group 2 in the Nations League with four victories, plus a draw and one defeat from their six matches. Their final round win over Italy saw them leapfrog their opponents – and on they go to the knockout stages.

Saliba was inundated with ‘likes’ and comments on his Instagram post, including one from a rather familiar face as Gabriel popped up with a reply. He simply put two red love heart emojis in the comments section.