Arsenal stars could earn recalls for Tottenham clash as Gabriel Martinelli hope remains
All things considered, Arsenal's win over PSV Eindhoven was the ideal preparation for Sunday's North London Derby against Tottenham Hotspur as Mikel Arteta was vindicated in his decision to name a strong line-up.
Thanks in part to racing into a three-goal lead at half-time, the Spaniard was afforded the luxury of resting a few of his key stars in the second half. So Oleksandr Zinchenko, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus and Leandro Trossard were able to put their feet as the Gunners eased to victory.
Of the quintet, you can make a strong case that four will retain their places in the starting XI for the visit of Spurs. If Gabriel Martinelli is passed fit after missing out on Wednesday night with a hamstring injury then he will almost certainly be in contention to reclaim his spot at the expense of the Belgian international.
Despite seeing the player limp off against Everton, the Arsenal manager, when speaking to the media on Tuesday afternoon, stopped short of ruling out the Brazilian for the visit of Spurs. He stated there were still some steps to take before determining the winger's availability.
«It's a possibility, we need to do more tests to see what happens,» Arteta told reporters in the pre-PSV Eindhoven press conference. Of course, the situation will have changed one way or another heading into the weekend and there should be an update from the Spaniard during his pre-match press conference.
Failing that, an indication as to whether Martinelli is in a position to return could come when the club releases images from training. In any case, the good news is the 22-year-old doesn't have to be rushed back as Trossard is more than capable of holding down the fort as proven in his last two appearances.
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