Arsenal have completed their preparations for the final Premier League game before the Qatar World Cup this week as they face Wolverhampton Wanderers tomorrow evening.
The Gunners will round-up the first half of the season in the Black Country with the incentive of being top of the league on Christmas Day. Mikel Arteta's side know that three points at the weekend will guarantee they are league leaders for the return of domestic football after the World Cup.
Arteta's side come into the clash on the back of a vital victory over London rivals Chelsea last weekend. The 1-0 win was the perfect response to Manchester City's late 2-1 win over Fulham the day prior and turned a lot of heads in the footballing world as talk of an intense title battle with Pep Guardiola's side continues to grow.
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On Friday, Arteta led his whole squad out for training for the final time before his international players head off to international duty next week. Media footage has emerged from London Colney ahead of the trip to Wolves, here is a look at some of the things we spotted.
Sousa, Walters and Henry-Francis team hint
So far this season, Arteta has continued to utilise the same 11-15 players in the Premier League and has reaped the rewards so far. However, there have been debuts handed to Ethan Nwaneri, Karl Hein and Marquinhos throughout the first half of the campaign as youth continues to be mixed with experience.
Ahead of the trip to the Black Country, there were three younger faces pictured in training as Lino Sousa, Reuell Walters and Jack Henry-Francis were all seen taking part in mini-sided games at London Colney. All three are yet to make their senior debut but have all played parts in the club's Under-23s this season.
Sousa was an unused substitute in the 3-0 win over Brentford - Nwaneri's senior debut - in September but all three could be named on Arteta's bench tomorrow evening. However, after the Arsenal boss confirmed there were no new injury concerns, it's unlikely they will be utilised unless the Gunners find themselves comfortably ahead,
Zinchenko returning to full fitness
After missing a chunk of the last month due to a calf injury, Mr. Versatile returned to the Gunners line-up last week against Chelsea. His return is a welcome bonus for Arteta and Arsenal, with his impressive performance topped off with a vital victory over Graham Potter's side.
For the first time in what seems to be weeks now, the players come into this weekend on the back of a full week in training and the Ukrainian has been pictured in training again with a smile on his face and taking part in the mini-sided game.
Zinchenko, like Mohamed Elneny and Gabriel, will remain in England before heading off to Dubai later in the month for a warm-weather training camp following Ukraine's failure to qualify for the World Cup. But having him back and playing has been a bonus for Arteta and his experience in title run-ins will be vital in the latter part of the season.
Fabio Vieira comeback from Brighton struggle
Vieira, 22, has struggled to replicate his form shown in his early days at Arsenal. His start to life in England was summed up in midweek with a rather poor showing against Brighton in the Carabao Cup. Vieira started in north London but was replaced by Gabriel Jesus with under 20 minutes to spare.
Granit Xhaka, Thomas Partey and Martin Odegaard's form has meant the former FC Porto man has failed to earn a frequent role in the Arsenal side. He has contributed with fine performances in the Europa League group stage and Arteta has called for patience with the Portuguese after his performance on Wednesday.
The midfielder was pictured in training sitting on a training ball alongside Cedric and Marquinhos with a pensive look. There remains plenty of time for the young man to repay Arteta's faith and the mid-season break will do exactly that as he aims to break into the starting XI in 2023.
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