Arsenal host Atletico Madrid in the Champions League semi-final second leg tonight as they bid to reach Budapest
Providing there are no late twists and no other fitness issues have been kept under wraps, Arsenal will have 24 players available to face Atletico Madrid in the Champions League semi-final second leg this evening.
Mikel Arteta can only name 23 players in his matchday squad – 11 starters and 12 substitutes – unlike the Premier League where only nine players are permitted to be named on the bench.
That means one player will miss out, though they are still likely to arrive with the team at the Emirates Stadium in case there are any late problems.
The Arsenal boss revealed on Monday evening during his press conference that captain Martin Odegaard and forward Kai Havertz are set to be included in the squad despite neither being spotted training at London Colney earlier that day during the club’s open session.
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Odegaard irritated his knee during last week’s first leg and later missed the 3-0 triumph over Fulham while Havertz was forced off against Newcastle with a groin issue.
Meanwhile, right-back Jurrien Timber and fan-favourite Mikel Merino remain sidelined through injury and will not participate in the match.
Where goalkeepers are concerned, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Tommy Setford are expected to provide support for newly-crowned Premier League Golden Glove winner David Raya.
Defenders Ben White, Cristhian Mosquera, Marli Salmon, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Riccardo Calafiori, Piero Hincapie and Myles Lewis-Skelly all trained on Monday and should be available, though there is some debate over who Arteta will start at left-back.
Hincapie got the nod during the first leg at the Metropolitano but Riccardo Calafiori impressed on Saturday and Myles Lewis-Skelly also dazzled in midfield to provide a timely reminder of his quality.
Declan Rice, Christian Norgaard, Martin Zubimendi and Eberechi Eze are the other midfielders that are available for tonight’s showpiece last-four clash at the Emirates.
Arteta also has a raft of options in attack with Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard, Noni Madueke, Bukayo Saka and Viktor Gyokeres all pushing to start.
Saka was withdrawn at half-time last weekend to protect his conditioning after scoring and assisting against Fulham.
The England winger recently returned from a disruptive Achilles issue but Arteta confirmed on Saturday that he was optimistic the problem was now finally behind his star attacker.
He said following Saka’s excellent cameo: “I think the pain is gone. It was restricting his capacity to do certain actions. Today he was back.”
Max Dowman and Gabriel Jesus are also expected to be included in Arsenal’s squad this evening.
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