Likely Line-Up:
Wojech Szczesny Hector Bellerin Per Mertesacker (c) Nacho Monreal Kieran Gibbs Mathieu Flamini Jack Wilshere Oxlade-Chamberlain Santi Cazorla Alexis Sanchez Danny Welbeck
Arsenal return to action in the Barclays Premier League this weekend, welcoming Hull City to the Emirates in a game where three points is a must to kick-start the season for anxious Gunners fans.
Arsene Wenger’s men have suffered some frustrating results so far this season, with the latest 2-0 defeat to Chelsea still hanging at the back of their minds.
The Arsenal defence is looking a little different this week, with Hector Bellerin sure to get a start, following the suspension to Callum Chambers and long-term injury suffering Mathieu Debuchy. Nacho Monreal will be brought in to cover the absent Laurent Koscielny, which will complete a back-four that have little experience in playing together.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will be looking to benefit from the injury to Mesut Ozil, and can sit in any of the front three attacking midfield places on offer.
It has been an international break to forget for Arsenal, with a number of injuries being picked up. This news comes with the eagerly awaited returns of some star first team players.
But let’s start with some good news:
Mikel Arteta
Arteta has completed a 3 week setback and will be in the squad to face Hull on Saturday afternoon. The Spanish star will most likely be started on the bench, with Wenger keen to hand him a half-hour spell in the centre of midfield.
Theo Walcott
At long last, Theo is on the brink of making his return to first team action. Wenger confirmed on Thursday 16th that Walcott will not feature in the Hull game. But reassured fans he will definitely play some part in the Gunners Under-21 match against local rivals Spurs. It’s now nine months since Walcott entered the pitch, so you can understand why the boss is being careful.
Aaron Ramsey
Aaron will not be in contention for Saturdays game, but will compete in full competitive training on Monday and will be in the squad on Wednesday to feature some spell against Champions League opponents, Anderlecht.
Serge Gnabry
Gnabry’s situation is quite similar to Walcott’s, although Wenger confirmed he is slightly behind the English forward. Serge has not undertaken any surgery, it’s more about getting his confidence back to eventually compete with the likes of Alexis Sanchez and of course, Theo Walcott.
Yaya Sanogo
Not a major concern, but Sanogo will be returning to full training within the next few weeks. The striker is “not too far” according to the boss.
Laurent Koscielny
The good news is Kosicelny won’t require any type of surgery, the bad news is there is no expected return date for the French international. The defender picked up an achilles problem whilst training with France and Wenger told us that he can only work with what the player has told him. Nacho Monreal will most likely cover him in the central slot of defence.
Mesut Ozil
Wenger was quick to explain the confusion behind the injury to Ozil, but was quick to give fans some good news. It appears the injury was only discovered after he had a scan after the Chelsea game, there was never a problem during the game that he was aware of. Mesut told Wenger of the problem, and returned from the Germany camp in the early days of the international break.
Early reports suggested it would be 12 weeks before we saw the £42million star back in action, although the boss has reiterated the setback could be as short as 6 weeks. The injury doesn’t come as too much of a problem, as either Alexis Sanchez or Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will step in to the attacking midfield position.
Olivier Giroud
There was no major update on Olivier Giroud, he is still set to return after the new year, but is doing well in his rehabilitation according to Arsene Wenger. We could have him back for January, offering much-needed competition to in-form Danny Welbeck.
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