Mikel Arteta handed unexpected double Arsenal fitness boost for Nottingham Forest clash

Mikel Arteta has been handed a surprise boost regarding two of his Arsenal players before their return to Premier League action against Nottingham Forest at Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

Injuries have hampered the Gunners' start to the 2025/2026 season - with five separate blows suffered in their first three games. During the opening day win against Manchester United, Ben White and Kai Havertz picked up injuries.

Arteta was then forced to withdraw Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka from their clash at home Leeds United due to shoulder and hamstring issues, respectively.

William Saliba was then substituted after just a few minutes in the defeat to Liverpool at Anfield. And all of those concerns emerged after summer signing Christian Norgaard also picked up a knock which has prevented him from making his competitive Arsenal debut.

Havertz, Saka and Saliba have already been ruled out of returning this weekend - which means others will need to step up. Noni Madueke will likely be one of those and is certainly primed to do so after a strong international break with England alongside Declan Rice and Myles Lewis-Skelly.

Leandro Trossard could be another but his impact will likely come a bit later down the line with his 63 minutes for Belgium on Sunday night coming as his first start of the season. Knowing he can comfortably reach the hour-mark is certainly a boost for Arteta, though.

Elsewhere, a number of Arsenal stars have been in action during the early hours of Wednesday morning over in South America.

Pierro Hincapie delivered a vintage performance with Ecuador as they beat Argentina where both teams played almost the entire second half with ten men. Roughly 3,342km south of where that match took place, Brazil were beaten by Bolivia with the latter keeping their unbeaten home record in qualification alive.

It's perhaps no surprise that is the case as their 23,000 capacity stadium is located at an altitude of 4,088 metres above sea level. The conditions can be a nightmare for opposition players with oxygen masks are often required.

Brazil icon Neymar has previously made his thoughts clear on playing there. Back in 2017, he wrote on Instagram: "[It is] Inhuman to play in these conditions. Pitch, altitude, ball... everything is bad."

Thankfully for Arteta, neither Gabriel Magalhaes or Gabriel Martinelli made it off the subs bench for Brazil. Those decisions from Carlo Ancelotti perhaps came as somewhat of a surprise after both Arsenal players started in their 3-0 win over Chile just a few days prior.

When also factoring in the travel required to get back to London from South America and the fact Arsenal and Forest kick off gameweek 4 at 12.30pm, Martinelli and Gabriel starting may have been in serious doubt had they also played in those awful conditions in Bolivia.

However, remaining unused substitutes should mean they are available for selection from the off which will come as a big boost given the injury problems Arteta is facing.

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