Arsenal welcome Tottenham Hotspur to Emirates Stadium for the second North London Derby of the season and it’s fair to say Mikel Arteta is looking forward to the occasions.
“It’s probably the nicest game of the season to watch and play, because of the atmosphere, what it means to our people and everyone who is involved in the game,” the Spaniard said on Tuesday. “This is something that is in our hands, for example.
“Let’s create the best atmosphere that we have played at Emirates. That’s an objective. That’s something we can control – players, staff and supporters that turn up tomorrow. That’s something we can do, so let’s do it.”
The Gunners go into the clash without a number of senior players, however, with Gabriel Jesus the latest player to pick up an injury. The Brazilian was stretchered off against Manchester United at the weekend and reports suggest he could be out for the season with an ACL injury.
Arteta said: “We know more now and it’s not looking good at all. We need to review one more specialist, so we will probably know more information this afternoon (Tuesday).” He added: “I don’t want to confirm anything until we have the final report this afternoon. It’s the doctor’s job to do that. But we were very worried after the game and we are very worried today.”
Bukayo Saka and Ethan Nwaneri will also miss the North London Derby, although the teenager is now back out on the grass. “He is good. He has started to do some work on the pitch already,” Arteta said on Nwaneri. “He is evolving well, he is young, he is healing very, very fast so hopefully we can have him soon.”
While Arteta confirmed Jurrien Timber and Jorginho are “fine” despite being forced off in the FA Cup third round loss to Man Utd on Sunday, Riccardo Calafiori’s availability is a little more unclear. The Italian missed the match against Ruben Amorim’s side after picking up a muscle injury last week and Arteta was unsure if the defender would be involved against Tottenham.
“His thing is not too much but we need another day or two,” Arteta said. “We’re playing every three days and 24 hours, which becomes really important because they’re not long-term injuries in that case, for example. We will have more understanding this afternoon.”
Elsewhere, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Ben White remain Arsenal’s long-term absentees and are not expected to make their returns any time soon. That means, when looking at the official Arsenal website, the Gunners have 17 senior players available for selection for the game vs Ipswich. As per Premier League rules, a club is allowed to name a squad of 20 players for a Premier League match.
Myles Lewis-Skelly, who is classed as an Arsenal Academy player on the Gunners official website, has been included in most matchday squads this season and may even start again at left-back on Wednesday. Young striker Nathan Butler-Oyedeji may be named in the squad to act as cover in the absence of Jesus, Saka and Nwaneri, while 19-year-old winger Ismeal Kabia has been named in a number of squads this campaign and could be included once again.
Possible Arsenal squad for Tottenham: Raya, Neto; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Kiwior, Lewis-Skelly, Zinchenko, Tierney; Rice, Jorginho, Partey, Merino, Odegaard; Trossard, Sterling, Havertz, Martinelli, Kabia, Butler-Oyedeji.
Senior players unavailable for Tottenham: White (knee injury), Tomiyasu (knee injury), Saka (hamstring injury), Nwaneri (muscle injury), Jesus (knee injury), Calafiori (muscle injury – doubt)
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