Mikel Arteta has confirmed that there are no fresh injuries for his side to worry about heading into their headline FA Cup fourth round clash against Manchester City on Friday. The Gunners have a week out of Premier League action in order to focus on their domestic cup run and could hand new signing Jakub Kiwior his debut.
Arsenal will have had almost a full week to recover from their intense 3-2 victory over Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium last week but don't get any let up, facing the domestic cup kings of recent years. Pep Guardiola has an astonishing record in cups since moving to England and is looking to deal a phycological blow to Arteta ahead of their league meeting next month.
The pair are the top two in the league heading into February with the Gunners five points clear but with a game in hand. They still have to play City twice in league action though and will have a chance to lay down their credentials in battle when they play at the Etihad Stadium.
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Heading into the game Arteta received a boost, not suffering any more injuries; meaning that Mohamed Elneny, Reiss Nelson and Gabriel Jesus are the only players currently out. On the Brazilian, Arteta gave an update on his progress, saying: "With him I don’t know. He wants to be next week. It’s totally unrealistic. He’s pushing and driving everyone to the limits. Hopefully it will be weeks not months."
Jesus hasn't played since suffering a damaging injury for Brazil at the World Cup but has been deputised for brilliantly with Eddie Nketiah's stunning form. Meanwhile, Mikel Arteta told football.london that Elneny will not be fit to face Man City after a knee injury picked up ahead of the North London Derby.
"I don’t think he will be [available]," Arteta added. "He had some issues with his knee that we are assessing at the moment and we will have to see how he evolves in the next couple of days.
"There are concerns, especially [because he] is a player who never complains about anything. But let’s see."
Being without those three will be a blow but the form of the rest of the squad has kept Arsenal's hunt for three trophies well and truly alive this season. They will have to prove that they can beat one of the strongest teams in the land, with Arteta going a step further and praising his former employers.
"Big test for us against in my opinion the best team in the world," he said, assessing the challenge awaiting in Manchester. Arteta and Guardiola often give glowing comments on each other such is their previous experiences together and this is just the latest to add to that such catalogue.
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