Mikel Arteta will be waiting for two players to prove their fitness before his side travels to Anfield, as Liverpool and Arsenal vie for the top spot over Christmas.
Liverpool’s Anfield triple-header closes out with the visit of leaders Arsenal on Saturday, in what is a clash of the league’s joint-best defences.
Both teams have conceded only 15 goals in their opening 17 Premier League games, and they head into the final fixture before Christmas evenly matched.
Arteta knows he will be without four players for the trip to Merseyside, but he is awaiting the final verdict over the fitness of two midfielders.
In his pre-match press conference, the Arsenal manager suggested there was still some hope for Mohamed Elneny (hamstring) and Jorginho (foot) to prove their fitness, as he ruled out Thomas Partey.
“[Partey]’s still finalising his rehab, he hasn’t trained with the team yet,” Arteta confirmed.
“Mo Elneny hopefully will train with us today [Friday] and we’ll see how he feels about it. The rest is no news. Jorginho is still a doubt, he’s racing.”
Jurrien Timber (knee), Takehiro Tomiyasu (calf) and Fabio Vieira (groin) are all in the treatment room alongside Partey and will not be making the trip to Anfield.
That leaves four absentees and two doubts for Arsenal, who will still be able to name a strong starting lineup that includes captain Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli.
Kai Havertz has moved into midfield and will be expected to sit alongside Odegaard and Rice, but Arsenal fans do fear Oleksandr Zinchenko’s matchup with Mohamed Salah.
As for Liverpool, they will be without Alexis Mac Allister, Thiago, Andy Robertson, Diogo Jota, Joel Matip and Stefan Bajcetic – but, hopefully, there will be good news on Ryan Gravenberch‘s availability.
An intriguing battle lies ahead as first meets second in the table at Anfield!
Possible Arsenal XI: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Odegaard, Rice, Havertz; Saka, Jesus, Martinelli
