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Arsenal's fixtures continue to come thick and fast this week with two crucial games to play. The Gunners welcome PSV Eindhoven to the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday before facing north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
Mikel Arteta's side continued their impressive start to the 2023/24 season last weekend with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Everton. Whilst not being at their best, the Gunners have 13 points from five matches and are only two points off Manchester City.
Now, Arsenal will face a number of serious questions in their pursuit of the Premier League and UEFA Champions League. And starting on Wednesday, Arteta's men will continue to have all eyes on them.
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PSV visit the Emirates Stadium for the second consecutive season this week in the Gunners' highly-anticipated return to the Champions League. Peter Bosz's side have started the season with four wins in four, scoring 13 goals and conceding only one.
Arsenal will have to be at their best on Wednesday evening and Arteta will be hoping to juggle his squad efficiently ahead of an important period. Forward Gabriel Martinelli is the latest star to be a worry for the north Londoners having been forced off with a hamstring issue in the win at Everton.
"He felt, I think, something in the action in the run for the goal," Arteta said. "He's not normally a player to have muscular issues, but he had to come off. Let's see."
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Unfortunately for Arsenal, Martinelli was not spotted among the Arsenal players who trained on Tuesday ahead of the visit of PSV.football.london was present for the open training session at London Colney and the Brazilian's absence indicates that he will almost definitely miss tomorrow's game.
Thomas Partey remains sidelined having picked up a muscular injury prior to the international break. "He’s still a few weeks away. He’s got a muscle injury. He’s progressing well, but he’s still a few weeks away," Arteta stated before the game at Goodison Park.
Reports suggest that the midfielder could be out until after the next international break, which isn't for another three weeks. That heaps the load onto Declan Rice and poses new questions for the management team.
Meanwhilem Mohamed Elneny is getting closer to a return of his own. He has been seen in training once more having not played since January and Arteta has explained that it is now a process of building up fitness again for the Egyptian after such a long period out.
"He has been training with us, he had a little niggle in his hamstring a few weeks ago and he is back in training now. Obviously it’s been a long-term injury, the latter stages of that rehab right now and then it’s about building momentum and game time with him."
Summer signing Jurrien Timber is the only other player to worry about. His early season knee injury is likely to rule him out until some way into 2024 and will not be part of the plans for the foreseeable future.
However, supporters were left excited on Monday when photos emerged online of Arsenal's official squad photo. Timber was pictured walking without crutches and with a smile on his face while in conversation with William Saliba.
Arsenal will be hoping to come out of Wednesday's game with PSV unscathed ahead of Sunday's North London Derby against Tottenham.
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