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Tashan Deniran-Alleyne

Takehiro Tomiyasu not spotted as returning Arsenal loanee trains ahead of Everton clash

Arsenal's preparations ahead of their final game of the Premier League season against Everton are now complete, with the last training session for a few months now in the books.

By the time the Gunners players report back to London Colney for pre-season training in July, they'll be gearing up for a return to the European stage after a year without it. But whether it's the Champions League or the Europa League will be decided come Sunday afternoon.

The situation is simple for Arsenal. They must beat Everton and hope Norwich City do exactly the same against Tottenham Hotspur, whereas a draw at Carrow Road would leave Mikel Arteta's side needing to win by a 16-goal margin in order to pip their rivals to fourth place on goal difference.

READ MORE: Mikel Arteta drops major hint on Arsenal transfer plans with clear message to Stan Kroenke

Of course, should Spurs, as expected, beat an already relegated side - they realistically only need to draw - then it will confirm a fifth-place finish for the Gunners in the Premier League table and their place in the Europa League group phase next season.

Five wins from their last seven home games should provide Arsenal with some confidence in regards to ending the campaign on a high against Everton regardless of their final league position. Although, they will be out to avenge the 2-1 loss at Goodison Park in the reverse fixture back in December.

As usual, before the big Premier League game, Arteta and his coaching staff put the Gunners squad through their paces during a training session at London Colney over the weekend, and there has been media footage released to provide a clue as to what shape the players are in.

On Friday, the 'behind the scenes at Arsenal training' feature was uploaded to YouTube, where Alexandre Lacazette lead a group of players who received a somewhat painful punishment after being on the losing side in a training drill. Twenty-four hours later, fresh images from Saturday's training session emerged, and here's what they tell us.

Judging by the images, one can assume that Takehiro Tomiyasu won't feature against the Toffees after he limped off against Newcastle, clutching his hamstring. With that said, the Japan international's absence doesn't necessarily mean he is out of the game, as just last week, Benjamin White and Gabriel Magalhaes weren't spotted in the final session before the trip to St James' Park but were named in the starting line-up.

Speaking of Arsenal's first-choice central defensive pairing, they both took part on Saturday. Interestingly, for the latter, it's the first time since before the win over Manchester United on April 22 that he's been spotted in a training session.

Furthermore, Thomas Partey trained again - despite him not being in contention for a return to action - alongside Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka, Nuno Tavares, Aaron Ramsdale, Rob Holding, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Granit Xhaka, Martin Odegaard, Mohamed Elneny, Alexandre Lacazette, Emile Smith Rowe, Cedric Soares, Nicolas Pepe and Eddie Nketiah.

Folarin Balogun was also present, although he can't feature against Everton as per Premier League rules regarding returning loan players. Charlie Patino was one of several youngsters called up alongside Zak Swanson, Lino Sousa, Marcelo Flores, James Sweet, Reuell Walters and Jack Henry-Francis.

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