Arsenal welcome Everton to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday evening for their latest instalment of Premier League action.
After beating Brighton & Hove Albion in their previous Premier League match and Manchester City slipping up against Nottingham Forest, the Gunners’ gap at the table’s summit has now been stretched to seven points, although the Citizens do still have a game in hand.
Since then, Mikel Arteta’s side have played away in both the FA Cup and UEFA Champions League, beating Mansfield Town 2-1 last Saturday before drawing at Bayer Leverkusen thanks to a late Kai Havertz penalty.
Ahead of a crucial run of fixtures, including next weekend’s EFL Cup final against Manchester City, perhaps the best result of Wednesday’s match for the Gunners was that they did not lose any further players to injury.
Here, Sports Mole rounds up Arsenal’s latest injury and suspension news ahead of their Premier League clash with Everton, who beat Burnley 2-0 in their previous league outing.
Riccardo Calafiori
Status: Available
Type of injury: Knock
Possible return date: March 14 (vs. Everton)
Riccardo Calafiori hobbled off with a knock in the second half of Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Mansfield last weekend and there were questions as to whether he would spend another spell on the sidelines.
However, the Italian defender recovered in time to make the bench against Bayer Leverkusen and is ready for selection on Saturday.
Ben White
Status: Available
Type of injury: Unspecified
Possible return date: March 14 (vs. Everton)
After missing the previous four matches with an unspecified injury, Ben White returned to the Arsenal matchday squad in Germany and will be available for the Gunners on Saturday.
Leandro Trossard
Status: Major doubt
Type of injury: Knock
Possible return date: March 11 (vs. Leverkusen)
Leandro Trossard missed Arsenal’s midweek trip to Leverkusen and it remains to be seen whether he will be included in the matchday squad on Saturday evening.
The Belgian winger was withdrawn after 38 minutes of the Gunners’ trip to Mansfield in the FA Cup last weekend with a niggle.
Martin Odegaard
Status: Major doubt
Type of injury: Knee
Possible return date: March 22 (vs. Manchester City)
Martin Odegaard has been ruled out of the previous four Gunners fixtures with a knee injury.
Although it looks likely he will return before the end of the month, the Norwegian will certainly be ruled out of this weekend’s fixture.
Mikel Merino
Status: Out
Type of injury: Foot
Possible return date: Unknown
Mikel Merino has been out since January with a significant foot injury that was sustained against Manchester United.
The club are hopeful of the Spanish midfielder returning to full training before the end of the season.
ARSENAL'S SUSPENSION LIST
Arsenal do not have any player suspended for this match.