Five Arsenal stars pictured training before Tottenham clash including long-term absentee

Arsenal return to Premier League action on Sunday when Tottenham visit the Emirates Stadium for the first North London Derby of the season

Arsenal have returned to training ahead of the North London Derby. The Premier League leaders are bidding to get back to winning ways straight after the international break when they host Tottenham on Sunday.

Mikel Arteta is still yet to welcome back his full squad as some of his international stars only played on Tuesday evening (Piero Hincapie for Ecuador).

Nonetheless, several members of his squad were back on the grass at the Sobha Realty Training Centre, though only five players were pictured in training on the club website.

Those included England duo Declan Rice and Eberechi Eze, who both featured for the Three Lions in their final two World Cup qualification wins over Serbia and Albania.

Eze was on target against Serbia as he looks to consolidate his place in Thomas Tuchel's squad for next summer's finals.

Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ben White, who were not picked for this month's camp, were also back in training with Arteta and his coaching staff at London Colney.

The English quartet were also joined by Gabriel Jesus as the Brazilian continues to step up his recovery from knee surgery in January.

Jesus actually returned to team training earlier this month ahead of the 2-2 draw against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. However, it's not yet clear when he will be available for Arsenal as medical staff do not want to rush his recovery.

There is a strong likelihood that other Gunners stars also took part in the session, though they didn't feature in the club's picture gallery.

It's been reported that Noni Madueke could return against Spurs after injuring his knee in the 1-1 draw with Manchester City back in September.

Germany boss Julian Nagelsmann revealed on Tuesday that Kai Havertz has suffered a setback in his rehabilitation from a minor knee operation, so the attacker is unlikely to return to fitness until the end of 2025.

Meanwhile, Norway boss Stale Solbakken admitted that Martin Odegaard was not quite ready to return for club or country after suffering an MCL injury against West Ham in October.

The derby could come too soon for Viktor Gyokeres too after he suffered a muscle injury after scoring in the recent 2-0 win at Burnley.

It's not yet clear whether Gabriel Martinelli is ready to return from a groin issue, which ruled him out of international duty with Brazil, either.

Riccardo Calafiori should be fit despite missing Italy's matches against Moldova and Norway with a hip issue and he's an option at centre-back after Gabriel Magalhaes sustained a thigh injury for Brazil against Senegal which could see him sidelined for a month.

Jurrien Timber also avoided injury for the Netherlands against Lithuania after suffering a cut on his leg.