The 9 players who could miss Chelsea v Arsenal after fresh concerns emerge for Gunners
Chelsea host Arsenal in a London derby at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon
Mikel Arteta has hinted that Martin Odegaard is ready to start for Arsenal after making his return from injury in midweek. The Norway international came off the bench in the 1-0 loss to Inter Milan in the Champions League.
He has been sidelined since suffering an ankle problem while on international duty in September. Arsenal have lost their last two games and Arteta was asked on Friday if Odegaard was ready to start when the Gunners face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Arteta said: “Everybody that is in the squad is going to be fit and available to start the game, so then it will be a decision whether it is too early or the right moment for him to make that step again.”
Arsenal have some fresh, albeit minor, concerns following their midweek contest in Italy while Chelsea are set to make a few late calls on some of their players.
Chelsea injury news
The biggest concern for Chelsea is the availability of Cole Palmer. The England midfielder was hacked down by Lisandro Martinez in the closing stages of the Blues' 1-1 draw at Manchester United last weekend. Palmer has not trained since the incident.
Providing an update on the midfielder, manager Enzo Maresca said on Friday: "Cole is getting better, but because he can walk and have dinner doesn’t mean he is completely fit. He is getting better and we still have two days to prepare for the game. Hopefully, we can have him for a session - at least on Saturday - and then we take a decision."
Meanwhile, Jadon Sancho has been out with illness recently and it is unclear if he will return to face the Gunners. Maresca has also revealed the former Borussia Dortmund man picked up a knock in training. Meanwhile, Omari Kellyman is still waiting for his senior debut at Chelsea after picking up a hamstring problem in September.
Chelsea outs: None. Chelsea doubts: Palmer, Sancho, Kellyman.
Arsenal injury news
The Gunners have a few more issues to contend with ahead of the trip to Stamford Bridge. Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee), Kieran Tierney (hamstring) and Riccardo Calafiori (knee) have all been absent in recent games and no update was provided on any of the trio - suggesting they will not be available.
Declan Rice is a doubt with a toe injury but, according to some reports, is ready to play through the pain. Kai Havertz and Mikel Merino both came off against Inter but are only minor doubts as things stand.
Arteta said on Friday: “We'll have to wait until tomorrow to see how they react. Kai had quite a nasty cut and he could not continue. With Mikel, to be fair the day before he wasn't feeling great and we decided to sub him at half-time.”
On Rice he said: “I have to be very vague on that one because there’s no clarity on whether he’s going to be fit for the weekend. [Whether he has a broken toe is] for the doctor, what I can say is that he hasn't trained yet and it is not clear whether he’s going to be available or not to play.”
Arsenal outs: Tierney, Calafiori, Tomiyasu. Arsenal doubts: Rice, Havertz, Merino.