Four key Arsenal stars miss training as Mikel Arteta eyes surprise inclusion for Tottenham clash

Arsenal face a huge clash against Tottenham at the weekend, with Mikel Arteta having a small squad to work with during the international break.

Arsenal face another huge test on their return from the international break, facing off with north London rivals Tottenham at the weekend. Mikel Arteta will be looking to inflict a first defeat of the Premier League campaign to opposite number Antonio Conte, who has helped them off to a good start.

A win for the Gunners would keep them top of the table and move them four points clear of Spurs in a huge boost to their top four chancesand title credentials. A loss, on the other hand, would see their close rivals leapfrog them by two points while staying unbeaten.

It’ll be all to play for at the Emirates, however history is on Arteta’s side so far, having won the two clashes he has managed at home against Tottenham. The Spaniard, like most managers at the top, has had a smaller squad to work with throughout the international break, but will still be preparing them for the clash.

With that said, here’s a look at the latest things spotted in Arsenal training heading into the huge derby match at the weekend.

Four stars missing 

Despite the usual crop of players being away on international duty, a number were either not involved due to injury or had to make the early return to the club. Left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko didn’t travel to play for Ukraine due to an issue with his right calf and wasn’t featured in training, but football.london understands the summer arrival is expected to be fit enough to feature in the north London derby.

As for the three early returns, all of Kieran Tierney, Thomas Partey and Takehiro Tomiyasu also were not pictured in training with Arteta. The former two were let go by their respective nations, with Tierney suffering a head injury against the Republic of Ireland, while Partey had to withdraw from Ghana’s side to face Brazil with a knee problem.

While they will be monitored as they are treated as precautionary, the case of Tomiyasu is slightly more puzzling as it doesn’t appear to be down to injury. The Japanese FA released a statement on his early leave, claiming it was for “club circumstances”, however, he was also not present in training.

Academy versus first-team

Arteta called up a number of youth prospects to help fill the numbers for the training sessions and appears to have set up a small routine that involved them facing off against the senior players. The youngsters were put in brightly coloured bibs, while the senior players were wearing the usual training gear.

Surprise inclusion against Spurs

One player who did feature prominently in training was Reiss Nelson, who is yet to get a proper look in following his loan at Feyenoord. The youngster was dealt an injury at the start of the season, but if he has made an impression in training, he could be a surprise inclusion in the side to face Tottenham.

 

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