Mikel Arteta has been dealt a mixture of good and bad news with the latest Arsenal injury update, as his side prepare to travel to Portugal to face Lisbon in the Europa League on Thursday night.
The Gunners are likely to be without Leandro Trossard after the Belgian limped off after 20 minutes last time out against Bournemouth, which could see eventual match-winner Reiss Nelson handed a starting role.
Elsewhere, Eddie Nketiah was not spotted in first-team training on Wednesday and Mikel Arteta gave an explanation for his recent absences from the starting XI, with the marksman suffering from a minor knock.
The most recent blow comes in the shape of Kieran Tierney, who was in line to make a first start since Boxing Day having played second-string to the in-form Oleksandr Zinchenko for much of the season.
However, the Scotsman skipped training this morning and will not travel with the squad to the Portuguese capital, after picking up an unfortunate illness.
It isn’t all doom and gloom for the Gunners faithful, in fact it is quite the opposite as spirits were high in training following the return of Gabriel Jesus, who was pictured on the field with the rest of the team.
Gabriel Jesus on his first full training session today — important news for Arsenal ⚪️🔴🇧🇷 #AFC
🎥 @footballdaily pic.twitter.com/Zpx4NSWqjg
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) March 8, 2023
This signals his return to full fitness may be edging closer and the Brazilian will be aboard the plane to Lisbon this evening, but having undergone major surgery and missed a total of 13 games since having his World Cup cut short, he may be unlikely to feature in midweek.
With both Eddie Nkeitah and Leandro Trossard missing, it is likely Arsenal will deploy one or both of Gabriel Martinelli and Emile Smith Rowe to provide Bukayo Saka with some much needed rotation.
Elsewhere, January signing Jakub Kiwior could be in line for his Gunners debut, with fans across Twitter singing his praises after an impressive showing for the u21 side.
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