Arsenal players have been hard at work in training as they prepare for the visit of Nottingham Forest.
The Gunners will be back in action on Sunday afternoon, three days after losing 2-0 at the hands of PSV Eindhoven in the Europa League and a week removed from dropping points for only the second time in the Premier League this season when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Southampton.
Mikel Arteta's side went into the weekend leading the way at the top of the Premier League table, but having slipped a place following Manchester City's win over Leicester City, will be aiming for all three points against Forest to reclaim the number one spot from Pep Guardiola and company.
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On Saturday, the Spaniard and his coaching staff put the Arsenal first-team squad through their paces during a training session at London Colney with media footage released to get fans in the mood for an afternoon kick-off at the Emirates Stadium. Here is a look at some of the things we spotted from the latest session.
Elneny returns
As per Arsenal's official tweet 'look who's back!' Mohamed Elneny hasn't been seen in a training session since the end of August in the build-up to the win over Fulham where he sustained a hamstring injury that has kept him on the sidelines.
The extent of the midfielder's injury had never been fully disclosed aside from Arteta describing the injury as long-term: "We still need to see another specialist, but I'm afraid we're going to lose Mo for a while," the Spaniard said at the time. "Obviously, that has an impact because Thomas is injured, and we are a bit short in that position."
Whilst there had been talk of Elneny not returning until after the winter World Cup, seeing him in training ahead of the Nottingham Forest game was certainly a welcome surprise and now it remains to be seen if he will be involved in any capacity on Sunday afternoon.
Double fitness boost
Also present for Saturday's session were Gabriel Magalhaes and Marquinhos. This is rather significant because the former was seen limping onto the team bus after the defeat in Eindhoven on Thursday evening, whilst the latter missed the trip altogether due to illness.
But the fact both were involved ahead of the Forest game is certainly a good sign they'll be available for selection. Gabriel has been a mainstay in the Arsenal back four this season and the £3m signing could be an option off the bench having shown glimpses of quality in the Europa League.
No Zinchenko
Yet again, there was no sign of Oleksandr Zinchenko in this particular training session and if recent history is any indicator then it looks like he will play no part against Forest. However, it is worth considering that he started the North London Derby win over Tottenham and the loss at Man United without being spotted in training prior to both games.
Furthermore, it's worth noting that there was no sign of Granit Xhaka in the latest batch of pictures from training. Many Arsenal supporters will hopeful that this was just a case of the in-form goalscoring midfielder being missed by the photographer rather than anything else.
Arteta and Vieira chat
Onto a topic that doesn't focus on injuries or fitness concerns. Following Arsenal's loss at PSV, Arteta challenged himself to get the best out of players who haven't been performing at the best in recent weeks and that might call for some honest conversations in training sessions.
Judging by the images, this may well have occurred between the Spaniard and Fabio Vieira on Saturday. The pair were pictured having a chat, where the Arsenal manager some hand gestures that are likely to suggest he was consoling his £34m summer signing and keeping his spirits high.
The attacking midfielder has featured heavily for the Gunners this month, but his performances have left a lot to be desired and his latest outing in the Europa League almost certainly wasn't enough to earn another start in the Premier League.
Youngsters involved
Arteta tends to call up some of the club's most promising youngsters to train with the first-team squad ahead of a game. This season has seen the likes of Ethan Nwaneri, Lino Sousa, Reuell Walters, Taylor Foran, Catalin Cirjan, Khayon Edwards and Amario Cozier-Duberry all benefit.
Going into the Forest game, youngsters Matt Smith, Zach Awe, Walters, Cirjan, Cozier-Duberry and Taylor Foran all took part in Saturday's session and goalkeeper James Hillson was also spotted - he could be in line for a call-up to the matchday squad if Matt Turner isn't ready to return after missing the PSV game.
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