SETTABLOID

Arsenal have suffered plenty of injury problems over the course of the international break, adding to their existing problems. While the transparency that the Gunners provide to supporters has been ever-present, there has, expectantly, been a dip in content during the break.

However, on Thursday, Arsenal released an insight into the team’s latest training session with the players now having returned from duty. Gabriel Magalhaes only arrived yesterday after a long flight from Brazil and was all smiles on the day.

Declan Rice, Mikel Merino and Riccardo Calafiori, too, among others, were looking positive. However, the benefits were quickly extinguished as fears began to bubble away as plenty of the senior playing staff were not spotted.

In fact, as many as nine were not seen in the photos. Martin Odegaard, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Ben White, Jurrien Timber, Kai Havertz, Thomas Partey, Kieran Tierney, Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka are not clipped up in the selection made available to fans.

The Arsenal starting eleven has been ripped apart in the opening weeks of the season, certainly not by opposition sides but instead by something entirely out of their control – injury. Several members of Mikel Arteta’s squad have been absent for extended periods or through controversial suspensions from eyebrow-raising rulings.

Yet despite these challenges, Arsenal look set to emerge from the smog of these problems in very good shape. They remain unbeaten in the league with just two games in which they have dropped points, one of course being at the champions Manchester City where seconds separated them from a famous victory.

The positive is that the midfield is yet to come together for the first time in a way many imagined it at the conclusion of the summer transfer window. Edu, the sporting director, made a key piece of investment, pushed by Arteta, to sign Mikel Merino who has only recently returned from a bizarre shoulder injury.

Martin Odegaard, meanwhile, has been missing since the September international break with a ankle problem with some social media storms suggesting he could be out until the festive period. Thankfully, Arteta has now brought a firm fist down on those claims and with it instilled some optimism.

Speaking ahead of the game against Bournemouth this coming weekend he said: “I think he’s not going to be fit for this game. Next week will be a different story, but again, in that later stage of rehab where he is at the moment because he’s doing already a lot of the stuff.

It’s not a serious injury. He’s evolving really well. He’s done a few things in the last few days when he came back from the national team after the second game. We are hopeful. We have a training session this afternoon and he did some bits yesterday, so let’s see if he can make it on time.

Yeah, he had a few issues and we’ve been dealing with that. He’s been absolutely brilliant. He has very good communication with the national team and the manager. They understood the situation. We have modified everything that we could do here and if he trains well today he has a good chance to be fit and available.

Gabi landed yesterday afternoon, so we’ve had a very short time to be with him. Yesterday he went outside to do a little bit and see how he’s feeling. Today will be another step to understand whether we want to take the risk if he’s fit. I know what the player is going to say ‘I’m going to be fit’.

Arsenal travel to the south coast this weekend to get their Premier League ambitions back underway following the international break. Mikel Arteta was in a jovial mood during Friday’s press conference when reminded of his comments of fear regarding injuries but this was certainly schadenfreude.

It is incredibly frustrating to see yet more players join Martin Odegaard and Oleksandr Zinchenko having suffered problems in September that see them missing to this day. Some like Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli appear to have escaped similarly long-term problems, though, and Arteta spoke positively about their potential availability.

When Riccardo Calafiori signed for Arsenal this summer, he revealed in an Instagram post that he’d already been to visit the Emirates Stadium earlier in the year.

Interviewer Roman Kemp pointed out that the Gunners won 5-0 that day, and suggested that must have made a good impression on the player.

But Calafiori’s trip to the Emirates was perhaps also inspired by the fact Mikel Arteta had already been in contact over a potential transfer.

“They started so early,” Calafiori revealed. “Like one year. Mikel (Arteta) started to call me a bit, he just wanted to explain to me what they think about me, he tried to convince me. But I was already convinced.”

After his trip to London and his experience watching the win over Palace, there was evidently no turning back for Calafiori.

It took a while for Arsenal and Bologna to come to an agreement, with further delays due to the player’s participation at the Euros with Italy. But eventually, the deal was done and the 22-year-old moved to his new home.

As a result, Arsenal are yet to wear their light blue and lilac third kit in a competitive game, but that will change on Saturday.

This is hardly surprising, given Bournemouth’s home kit is red and black, matching both Arsenal’s home kit and away kit.

The Arsenal men didn’t even wear the third kit in pre-season, using the away kit against Liverpool and Bournemouth (who wore their away kit too), and wearing the home kit against Manchester United, Bayer Leverkusen, and Olympique Lyonnais.

Arsenal travel to Bournemouth on Saturday with Mikel Arteta dealing with a number of key injuries as the Premier League returns.

The Gunners are a point off leaders Liverpool after victory over Southampton, meaning they have an opportunity to go top before Arne Slot’s side host Chelsea on Sunday, with defending champions Manchester City travelling to Wolves in the early kick-off.

Andoni Iraola’s Cherries return this weekend in 13th and are five points clear of the relegation zone but need a response after defeat to Leicester before the break.

Mikel Arteta’s quest of an elusive Premier League crown sees Arsenal take on Bournemouth next. The Gunners visit the Vitality Stadium on matchday eight of the English top flight as they look to pick up where they left off prior to the international break.

The fitness issues have mounted for the North Londoners and with several absentees expected, here is a look at Arsenal’s potential starting eleven against the Cherries.

Goalkeeper – David Raya is expected to keep his place in goal. There is no much to debate regarding the goalkeeper’s role at Arsenal given the Spaniard’s respectable form in recent weeks.

Defenders – Riccardo Calafiori will keep his place on the left side of the backline, although Jurrien Timber’s injury could mean Ben White returns to play as the right back. White has been nursing a knock lately but could be fit to return this weekend.

Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba will keep their places in the heart of the Arsenal back four.

Arsenal will look to continue their unbeaten record in the Premier League this season as they travel to the Vitality Stadium to take on Bournemouth on Saturday.

With five wins and two draws, Mikel Arteta’s side are a point behind league leaders Liverpool, although it could be argued that they’ve faced a far tougher run of fixtures so far.

The Gunners have become notoriously hard to beat in recent seasons and will look to put together a winning run after the international break to really become a force to be reckoned with.

And Paul Merson feels they will get all three points on the road, although he fired a word of caution to his former team.

Teams usually tend to falter immediately after the international break and Merson fears something similar could be in the offing for Arsenal if they don’t use their full squad against Bournemouth.

However, he thinks Arsenal’s quality will shine through as he predicted a 3-1 win for the Gunners on the road.

After their trip to the Vitality Stadium, Arsenal face three more tricky away days in the Premier League as they prepare to take on Liverpool, Newcastle United and Chelsea in the upcoming weeks.

Eddie Nketiah says his exit from Arsenal has allowed him to pursue his next steps in football, having been starved for game time towards the end of last season.

The England international played fewer than 30 minutes of Premier League action after March, starting just 13 of his 37 outings across all competitions. Half of his six goals came in one match – a hat-trick against bottom side Sheffield United – with none of them coming after January.

All 10 of his league starts had come before the turn of the new year, having initially deputised for the injured Gabriel Jesus before Kai Havertz eventually adopted his centre-forward role. Nketiah – whose England debut, and sole cap, came a year ago last Sunday – left for Palace in a £30million deadline day move in August.

He was one of a number of academy products to be offloaded with Emile Smith Rowe joining Fulham before Reiss Nelson followed him to Craven Cottage on loan. Nketiah – who moved to Arsenal from Chelsea’s academy – has unpacked why he chose Palace as his next employers, having spent more than a decade at the Gunners.