When Aaron Ramsey was forced off against Newcastle on Monday night Arsenal held its breath. The No.8 has been in superb form in recent weeks despite his impending transfer to Juventus and had scored the crucial opener.
However Unai Emery appeared to be optimistic that he would not be without Ramsey for too long, stating that the Wales international had only suffered cramp.
When the Welshman returned to training on Friday it seemed he would be well-placed to feature against Everton, a side against whom he has four goals and three assists in his last three Premier League games.
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However Ramsey was only deemed fit enough for the bench when the teams came in at Goodison Park, with Mohamed Elneny taking his place alongside Matteo Guendouzi in the Arsenal engine room.
Rather than the cramp Emery had initially believed the Wales international had it was instead groin problems that forced Ramsey off the pitch against Newcastle and, in a crucial run of fixtures domestically and in Europe, the Gunners are conscious of the need to carefully manage the midfielder's workload.
Ramsey has a history of muscular issues, particularly when he plays several games in a row, and with the visit of Napoli to the Emirates Stadium to come on Thursday Arsenal are believed to be carefully managing the midfielder's workload.
The Gunners were also without the suspended Lucas Torreira, whilst Granit Xhaka had failed to recover from his own groin issues in time to be named in Emery's travelling party. All three are expected to be available at least for Emery's squad against Napoli on Thursday.
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