3 hours ago
27
Arsenal's new summer signings will make their home Premier League bow this weekend when the Gunners take on Leeds United on Saturday evening (5.30pm kick-off).
Mikel Arteta's men started the new season with three points at Manchester United with Riccardo Calafiori's first-half header the difference. This week, newly-promoted Leeds visit the Emirates Stadium looking to record their first top-flight away win since 18 March 2023.
Last week, Viktor Gyokeres, Martin Zubimendi and Noni Madueke made their debuts for their club and they will play in front of the Arsenal supporters for the first time in a competitive fixture on Saturday.
The Gunners are facing a race against time to complete the signing of Eberechi Eze in time to feature against Leeds. The England international is closing in on his £67.5million move from Crystal Palace having undergone his medical on Friday morning.
Should the deal not be registered in time, Eze could be forced to watch his new teammates in action from the sidelines. He will be joined by a number of players with injuries keeping certain individuals out.
Kai Havertz is the latest player to be forced out. The German is expected to be sidelined with a new knee injury for a period of time with reports in his homeland suggesting there is a cartilage problem.
Arteta was asked about Havertz's injury on Friday. "Well he's certainly not fit, and we don't really know the extent of it," he said. "We need some more time and more tests.
"I prefer not to talk about the specifics. We will decide further about what we're going to do." When pushed for more clarity, he added: "I don't know, the reality is he's not available for tomorrow."
There are also concerns over the fitness of Ben White and Jurrien Timber. After White was taken off in the win over United, he missed the open training in midweek while Timber did feature, but was more reserved in comparison to the rest of the squad.
New signing Christian Norgaard did miss the victory at Old Trafford completely. Providing an update on the trio, Arteta said: "Christian won't be in the squad. With Ben, let's see how he reacts.
"Christian will be out for a week or so." He added: "On Jurrien we have to manage his load, he has been out for a long time. We had a long week, we have to manage the load and we have decided to take a little bit of training down."
Gabriel Jesus remains out and has been so since the FA Cup defeat to Manchester United at the start of the season.
English (US) ·