Arsenal face Brentford on Saturday afternoon knowing they can go eight points clear at the top and put the pressure back onto Manchester City who prepare for the visit of Unai Emery’s Aston Villa. The two title challengers play one another in midweek and the difficulty will be keeping the focus away from that major battle.
However, the Arsenal lads looked in high spirits in training ahead of the weekend. There were some notable omissions but some familiar faces returned to the action in addition to one big positive which wasn’t as sure last week.
The availability of the group is sure to be scrutinised in Mikel Arteta’s press conference on Friday. However, until then, football.london has taken a look through the recent selection of training images to see what we could spot.
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Partey fit and available
The biggest sigh of relief is the full involvement of Thomas Partey. In last week's images of training the Ghanaian international was only spotted in the background raising concerns about his involvement for the weekend and this was only compounded by Mikel Arteta’s press conference, in which he described the key midfielder as 'a doubt'.
However, this week Partey was front and centre and could be seen with the squad and sitting with Oleksandr Zinchenko. Partey came off in the second half against Everton and seconds later the Toffees scored what would be the winning goal.
With two massive home games against Brentford and then Manchester City, Partey will be crucial in helping the team. The record with and without Partey speaks for itself but Arteta will be fully aware of needing to manage his fitness.
One Hale End star is back, another absent
Reiss Nelson has featured in training for the past couple of weeks but he has remained absent from the matchday squad. His spot has been filled by Marquinhos in the team prior to his loan move to Norwich City, and now Amario Cozier-Duberry has deputised, who was also seen in senior training.
However, Nelson is in contention to return to the team this weekend having taken part with the group for an extended period. He was just finding some strong form with his goals against Nottingham Forest but a hamstring problem against Juventus in the mid-season break cut short his stint of playing.
Although Nelson is preparing to return, Emile Smith Rowe was again nowhere to be seen. There is an expectation he will likely not be in the squad again this weekend as he continues to recover from a thigh injury suffered soon after returning from groin surgery.
Hull City recall involved
One player who has not been at London Colney for some time was Salah-Eddine Oulad M'Hand. The Dutch youth international was sent on loan to Hull City but he failed to make a single appearance and suffered an injury whilst on the east coast and so Arsenal recalled him.
Now fit, he is training and will likely be involved again with Mehmet Ali’s Under-21s side. His brother, Ismail, has been a regular part of Jack Wilshere’s Under-18s side, where he also plays in midfield.
Short sleeves dismay
As you would expect the only member of the Arsenal squad to fully embrace the English February cold snap is Kieran Tierney. Although he’s been keeping the bench warm for much of the season behind both Zinchenko and Takehiro Tomiyasu, he once again braved the chills of the elements and went for the short-sleeved t-shirt.
Meanwhile, Eddie Nketiah was fully wrapped up in tracksuit bottoms, a long-sleeve top and a neck warmer and gloves. Wonder what his Scottish teammate would have been thinking about that?
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