England attacker Bukayo Saka and Brazil internationals Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel could recover from injuries to feature in Arsenal’s seismic Premier League match at Manchester City on Sunday, head coach Mikel Arteta says.
Gunners top scorer Saka pulled out of England’s squad with a muscle injury, while Martinelli has been out with a foot problem and Gabriel was also not part of his country’s squad during the international break.
“There is a chance,” Arteta replied when he was asked whether the trio could feature at Etihad Stadium.
“They haven’t trained but tomorrow we have another session so there is a chance that they can be available.”
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With 10 games of each contender’s league season remaining, Arsenal are above Liverpool, who host Brighton & Hove Albion earlier on Sunday, on goal difference and a point clear of reigning champions Manchester City.
“It’s a massive game for both teams, that’s for sure,” accepted Arteta, the former assistant to City counterpart Pep Guardiola.
“It will give us a huge push again if we go there and win it but I still feel there is a long, long way after to make all the ground to win it.”
Man City v Arsenal: Havertz ‘complete’
Arsenal had a dismal recent record against City before beating them on penalties in the Community Shield in August, when Leandro Trossard’s last-gasp equaliser in normal time meant the game finished 1-1 after 120 minutes.
In their largely forgettable first league meeting of the season, Martinelli scored the only goal of the game in the 86th minute at Emirates Stadium in October, netting with one of only three attempts on target the teams shared.
Energy in the squad is high ahead of Sunday âš¡ pic.twitter.com/akfgAZLqYY
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) March 29, 2024
Kai Havertz, who joined Arsenal for £65m before the start of the season, has shown his potential to hurt City by contributing four goals and two assists in the Uefa Champions League quarter-finalist’s last four top-flight matches.
“He’s been in great form,” said Arteta. “His overall performances have been really complete both for his country and us, and then his goalscoring threat, obviously.
“He’s a player who has been playing different positions and fulfilling those roles in a great way. We will see how we use him for this game.”
