As Arsenal enter a crucial run of fixtures that will define their season Mikel Arteta has continued to see his side get over the line multiple different ways. Having beaten Aston Villa in the last minute they destroyed Everton in midweek before a miraculous 3-2 comeback against Bournemouth.
The Gunners have managed to overcome adversity in each other their recent games and have been rewarded with a five point gap at the top but a new proposition stands in front of them now. As Europa League football returns Arteta will once more having a balancing act.
The Spaniard was able to navigate the group stages relatively stress free, giving game time to first team outsiders Fabio Vieira and Albert Sambi Lokonga. As expectations rise with a view to making this a historic season, rotation may not be the answer anymore.
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Although the league will take priority, earning a first European trophy would also be a massive success this season for Arsenal, adding some pressure to their last-16 tie with Sporting CP. The first leg, away in Portugal, is on Thursday and Arteta has immediate questions to answer regarding his team.
In recent weeks he has been dealt the odd blow with Thomas Partey and Jorginho missing action due to illness and fitness. Both returned to the squad against Bournemouth, though the Italian was an unused substitute. Eddie Nketiah wasn't involved having limped around in the closing stages against Everton.
With regards to the latest, football.london understands a late decision will be made on Nketiah's European involvement, while Gabriel Jesus, who is making steps towards a return, is also unlikely to travel with the squad but may still journey out.
"We are assessing him," the Spaniard said of Nketiah in his pre-match press conference for Bournemouth. "It's a bit uncertain what will happen with him to be honest in the training sessions. Let’s see, let’s keep the options open. He’s very positive about it and hopefully he’ll be fine."
Whereas there are more worries in attack with Leandro Trossard also set to miss the Sporting tie, though his groin injury isn't thought to be serious. After the weekend Arteta said: "It is a worry, he came to me straight away and said he couldn't continue, he'd felt something when he was tracking back, so we had to take him off. We'll assess him and see how he is."
Meanwhile this could be the perfect game for Jorginho to come back into after falling ill against Everton. "Jorgi [Jorginho] is fine," Arteta revealed. "He had an illness and he put in a great shift but we decided to take him off [vs Everton]."
Amongst the returning stars is also Emile Smith Rowe, who came on against Everton last week before being used as an early replacement for Trossard against Bournemouth. He then made way for Reiss Nelson later on in the game but there isn't much to worry about.
“We didn’t plan to throw him in so early," explained Arteta. "We knew it was difficult for him to last 70 minutes on the field after missing nearly five months. But I think he had a good impact but at the end, I felt we needed something else on the left because we were lacking threat and we were attracting more players into that (left) side. That’s why we made the decision to bring Reiss on."
As for what Arteta has said most recently on the star man Jesus, things are gradually getting closer. "He's not far now. I don't want to give a timeline but he's doing certain things with the team, certain things outside the team. He's not very close but he is not far at all.
"He's feeling better every day and the doctors are confident with the way the injury is evolving and we are in a good place with him I think."
With two competitions to juggle before the end of the season squad management is going to be more important than ever before for Arteta, who is still missing long-term absentee Mohamed Elneny, too.
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