Mikel Arteta faces a nervous wait to see if Granit Xhaka will be available to face Manchester City in a crucial top-of-the-table clash on Wednesday. The game could see the Gunners move eight points clear at the top but could likewise end with Pep Guardiola's side breathing down their neck.
The reigning champions have two games in hand over Arsenal and could move top if they were to win those matches and not get beaten at the Etihad Stadium. It comes less than a week after the Gunners were dealt a massive blow to their title hopes, dropping yet more points in a dramatic 3-3 draw to Southampton.
That game was played without instrumental midfielder Xhaka as he missed the game through illness. Fabio Vieira played in his place but couldn't add the same quality to the side and the Portuguese might be needed here once again.
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When asked about the state of his squad heading into the game, Artea said: "Granit has been out. Hopefully he’ll be able to train today but he’s still a doubt. The rest are OK."
That is good news for Oleksandr Zinchenko who featured against Saints but was sidelined out of precaution for the trip to West Ham. He will be without defensive partner William Saliba once more though. "There’s not been a real improvement unfortunately on him, so we’re still waiting," Arteta explained.
Saliba hasn't played since being taken off against Sporting CP in the Europa League last-16 tie. "We’re still hopeful, but another week has gone by and he hasn’t been able to train with the team," Arteta added.
"At the moment we don’t have him. We are preparing the game without him and probably the next game will come too soon as well. We have to go week by week at the moment."
He remained coy on the specifics of the issue though, saying: "I’ll leave that to the doctors to explain."
Arsenal have conceded a quarter of their goals this term in the four games that Saliba has missed and there is a continuing fear that he may not be ready to play again this season.
Elsewhere, the only two other long-term injury issues are for Mohamed Elneny and Takehiro Tomiyasu, neither of whom will play again this season.
As for City, they are set to be without star defender Nathan Ake but other than that are expected to have a fully fit squad for the game.
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