Arsenal fans have a reason to be cheerful with three players receiving an injury boost ahead of the trip to Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday.
Arsenal rotated their team somewhat on Saturday to allow for this Champions League game, whilst some players were left out to allow for extra recovery. Here are the three players to receive a timely boost on Monday morning.
Aaron Ramsey
Ramsey was injured in Arsenal’s Premier League opener against Liverpool after being rushed back following his European adventure with Wales. Although he may have been ready for a return against Southampton, with sufficient cover in central midfield, Arsene Wenger was not prepared to make the same mistake twice and opted to leave the Welshman out of the matchday squad on Saturday. Ramsey was in full training on Monday though and he is expected to be in the squad for the game against Paris, although it remains to be seen whether Wenger is prepared to risk him from the start. Arsenal have the likes of Santi Cazorla, Francis Coquelin and Granit Xhaka to choose from in central midfield, so there is no urgency to rush him back into the starting eleven if he doesn’t appear 100% fit. Wenger though, like he has in the past, may choose to play Ramsey out wide, allowing Arsenal more control of the game against a big team. After Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain struggled on Saturday, there could be an opening for Aaron there, although we know that is not his favoured position.
Laurent Koscielny
You might remember that in the build up to Arsenal’s winner on Saturday, Koscielny took a heavy boot to the face. The Frenchman was down for some time whilst Santi Cazorla waited to convert the spot kick. This led to many believing that he may struggle to participate in Tuesday’s game. However Sky Sports have reported that Koscielny was in full training with Arsenal on Monday morning and he will keep his place in the starting eleven. Arsene Wenger is likely to confirm the availability of Koscielny later today when he has a press conference in Paris, but it looks likely that Koscielny will continue alongside new man Mustafi at the heart of defence.
Gabriel Paulista
He won’t be able to play on Tuesday, but this is a nice boost for the Gunners. Injured in the Gunners pre-season, it was initially feared that the Brazilian was going to miss a large proportion of the season but now it seems that just 4 games into the Premier League season, he is heading back. With Rob Holding and Mustafi settling into the squad quickly, there is no need to rush back Gabriel though, especially with Koscielny also now fully fit. You would think that Arsene would like to get Gabriel back fit for the game against Nottingham Forest in the League Cup on the 20th of September.