Arsenal restart their Premier League campaign with a tricky proposition as they head north to take on Manchester City on Wednesday evening (June 17).
And ex-Citizens assistant Mikel Arteta, now in charge of the Gunners, has no new injury concerns ahead of the game at the Etihad Stadium.
According to The Manchester Evening News, he has a stronger squad to choose from than when the fixture was originally scheduled in March as Kieran Tierney has now recovered from a shoulder dislocation.
Their only confirmed long-term absentee is Calum Chambers, who is still expected to miss the rest of the season with a cruciate ligament injury.
Meanwhile, Lucas Torreira is doubtful as he continues to recover from a fractured ankle.
“So far everybody is ok,” Arteta confirmed. “We’ll see how training goes tomorrow to pick the right team and the right squad.”
As the Premier League restarts following the forced shutdown thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, teams must now adapt to playing behind closed doors although managers can now make five substitutions per game.
“It’s going to be different with the number of substitutes we have on the bench and the number of changes we can make,” Arteta – who himself contracted coronavirus in March – added.
“We have to think about how we can do that.”
With work to do to guarantee European football at The Emirates next season, Arsenal go into this match in ninth place in the table, albeit only eight points behind fourth-placed Chelsea and with a game in hand.
A win could move them as high as sixth, depending on other results, but they are up against it given they haven’t beaten City in the league since December 2015, losing their last five encounters.
Arsenal (probable): Bernd Leno; Buyako Saka, David Luiz, Sokratis, Hector Bellerin; Dani Ceballos, Granit Xhaka; Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Nicolas Pepe; Alexandre Lacazette
