football.london looks at what a dream line-up would look like for Arsenal in the North London Derby against Tottenham
Arsenal take on Tottenham Hotspur in the North London Derby on Sunday and will be hoping for some positive news on the team news front this week as players return from international duty. Mikel Arteta waved goodbye to many of his squad but stayed behind with a collection of those either not called up or still recovering from injury.
However, he would look on at both the Brazilian and Italian national sides, who dealt different with Gabriel Magalhaes and Riccardo Calafiori, respectively, as they went away with fitness concerns. Where Italy would opt against using Calafiori, Brazil did not, and sadly, Gabriel suffered a problem.
There is still a lack of clarity on the status of these players, and Arteta will hopefully provide greater insight at Friday’s press conference.
If Gabriel does not recover quickly from the injury, Arteta will have to look at other options. These include the likes of Piero Hincapie, Cristhian Mosquera and Myles Lewis-Skelly, who are all options to come into the back four with the Brazilian out.
Elsewhere, the hope is that Viktor Gyokeres will also be fit to return to the starting front three. Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard will naturally start as the most in-form wide players available.
However, it could be that Arteta can again call on Noni Madueke, Gabriel Martinelli and maybe even Gabriel Jesus very soon alongside Kai Havertz, who are all vying to return to the squad and support the options available to Arteta.
Martin Odegaard, too, is fighting to come back, but for now Eberechi Eze will continue in the number ten role. There will be a great fight for the starting spot in the weeks to come, which should only be good news for Arsenal.
Arsenal dream XI vs Tottenham Hotspur: Raya; Timber, Saliba, Hincapie, Calafiori; Zubimendi, Rice, Eze; Saka, Gyokeres, Trossard
