Arsenal have received a timely boost ahead of the trip to Sporting, with three senior players back in training.
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One of the main talking points over the international break was the large number of Arsenal players who pulled out of international duty.
Arsenal fans are still waiting on a number of injury updates regarding key players but some who missed the FA Cup game against Southampton are now back in training.
On Saturday, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Jurrien Timber, Eberechi Eze, Mikel Merino, Piero Hincapie, and Leandro Trossard were all missing from the squad.
Gabriel, who had a right knee problem with Brazil, started the game only to be taken off with a left knee issue.
Photo by James Fearn/Getty Images
He was replaced by William Saliba, whose own ankle problems meant he wasn’t quite right to start.
Noni Madueke, who picked up what looked like it could be a serious knee problem – he was in a brace at one point – made a surprise appearance in the squad, while Martin Odegaard also returned.
At Arsenal’s open training session before the travelled to Portugal, Rice and Trossard were spotted with the group, as was Gabriel, who seems to have already shaken off his problem.
The rest, however, did not seem to be involved, so it looks like Arsenal will be going without Timber, Eze, Merino, Hincapie, and Saka.
Of that list, the main concern is around Hincapie with Arteta admitting the injury could be ‘serious’.
