It continues to be hearts in mouths time for everyone associated with Arsenal as their players head into international action in the middle of a title race. Whilst Euro 2024 qualifiers and CONCACAF Nations League matches are going on, Mikel Arteta will be praying that his stars come through unscathed.
The Gunners are 10 games away from their first league win in 19 years and have done so in impressive style. The foundations from that have also come from a variety of places, meaning that even an injury here or there hasn't derailed the massively impressive season.
Manchester City are the kings of the run-in though and have won every one of the last 10 games on two occassions in recent years in order to stay ahead of Liverpool. This time they are the chasers and are showing signs of getting going.
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The trophy is in Arsenal's hands though and the five point gap opened up to this point has been well deserved. That could come under serious threat should they be without any one of their standout players for the final straight though.
Having dealt so well with the absence of Gabriel Jesus, Arteta won't welcome being without other key players, hence why there was baited breath when Bukayo Saka found himself continually kicked for England against Italy on Thursday. The winger has come in for his fair share of rough treatment this season but nevertheless got an extra dose of it from an aggressive Italy side that targeted the Arsenal man when in possession.
Saka didn't complete the game but went off in seemingly fine condition. England face Ukraine next on Sunday and Gunners fans will be hoping he isn't needed to get the result. Elsewhere, a similar concern was had for captain Martin Odegaard. The Norway midfielder was on the receiving end of a horror tackle from Manchester City man, Rodri.
Arteta had sent a message to his players to be careful when in action for their countries, saying: "That they really look after themselves in this period. We will look after the players that are with us here. That they come back with the same mindset and hunger from before to go into Leeds, which is the only important game right now. We know it."
Odegaard was furious at the tackle for this very reason and took aim at Rodri afterwards, saying: "He’s coming with his studs right on my ankle. But I’m sure I’ll get punished [if I say anymore]. I don’t bother saying anything else about the referee. It’s better not to say anything."
The 24-year-old continued on throughout and is due to play again on Tuesday against Georgia. The biggest current concern for Arsenal is a man who didn't make it to his countries camp, though. William Saliba was called up by Didier Deschamps for France but had to withdraw with injury.
"We hope Willy [Saliba] is going to be better news," Arteta said last week after he was taken off against Sporting CP in the Europa League. "Again, we have to wait to tomorrow to get a better picture." There are fears that the defender could be out for months, but that is as of yet unconfirmed.
Elsewhere, stand-in striker Eddie Nketiah wasn't selected for international action with England after suffering a setback of his own. "He’s getting better. He’s still in the boot," Arteta said. "He’s still a few weeks away and we need to be patient. It was a nasty injury and he has a big challenge ahead of him. Thank God it could have been worse. So he’s not in a bad place."
The impressive forward has given his own update on social media too. Alongside an image on Instagram he wrote: "Grafting! *muscle emoji* #SoonBack." He then added another image to his Instagram story with the caption: "Rehab crew, monster mentality *brain emoji* *finger point emoji*."
Two first team players remain out for the foreseeable future. Right-back Takehiro Tomiyasu won't play again this campaign and a statement from the club read: "Tomi has had successful surgery in London on Tuesday and will be ruled out for the remainder of this season. Everyone at the club will now be working hard with Tomi, so he can join pre-season training ahead of next season."
Elsewhere midfielder Mohamed Elneny is still out with a long-term knee injury. It is Leeds next up for Arsenal.
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