Arsenal have received a timely injury boost as Aaron Ramsdale returns to first team training.
The Gunners No 1 has been out injured recently and missed the win over Aston Villa just before the international break. He remained absent as England saw off Switzerland and the Ivory Coast and is expected to miss his side's trip to Crystal Palace on Monday night.
However Ramsdale is close to a return to full fitness but Bernd Leno is set to continue in between the sticks for the game at Selhurst Park. Mikel Arteta said earlier this week: "Aaron is a doubt. He’s still feeling not great. He hasn’t trained yet so we don’t know what he will be able to do on Monday."
Arsenal will be hoping to consolidate fourth place and take advantage of their rivals slipping up. The Gunners were in control of their own destiny heading into the weekend and saw Manchester United drop points on Saturday. They were held by Leicester City at Old Trafford.
After they take on Crystal Palace Arteta's side face Brighton and Southampton. Following that they face a tricky run of games that will see them visit Chelsea and West Ham with a crunch clash against United sandwiched in between. They also need to face Tottenham on the road.
Arsenal have not played in the Champions League since the 2016/17 season but could again take a seat at Europe's top table. Arteta's side lost their opening three games of the season and copped major criticism, but a revival since then could now silence the doubters.
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Several shrewd summer additions have been pivotal to their rise up the table. The likes of Ben White and Martin Odegaard were signed amid criticism as pundits questioned the club's recruitment policy. Ramsdale was another to move to the capital but revealed recently that Bukayo Saka was the man who turned his head.
He told FourFourTwo : "It wasn’t Mikel Arteta, to be honest – it was Bukayo! I heard rumours that Arsenal were interested in me when I was at the camp before the Euros, and Bukayo had mentioned that he and the boss had been talking about me. As the transfer window gathered pace, I went back to Sheffield United and there were bids getting rejected.
"When one was accepted, I finally spoke to the manager and he told me, 'We don’t see anyone as No.1 or No.2.' He told me that it might take a year to win the main shirt. The manager’s great – you can speak to him about anything."
