Gabriel Martinelli injury alternatives for Mikel Arteta ahead of Manchester City vs Arsenal

Games don't come much bigger than Sunday's clash between Arsenal and Manchester City. Win, and the Gunners can open up a four point gap over Pep Guardiola's side with just nine games remaining. Lose, and Mikel Arteta's men slip from leading the way in the Premier League title race to third place.

With so much at stake, Arteta will understandably want as strong a squad available to him as possible. Unfortunately though, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel are both injury doubts after withdrawing from their respective international squads over the most recent break.

There is hope that the pair could all be involved at the Etihad Stadium, though. When it comes to Gabriel Martinelli, however, the picture is far less clear.

The Brazilian has been absent since sustaining a foot injury against Sheffield United. Rumours had suggested that he could be out for the season as a result, but football.london understands that's not the case.

He's already made a miraculous recovery from injury to have a massive effect in a match against City this season once, and there's a hope he could do the same again. Still, though, Arteta will be preparing contingency plans. Here football.london takes a look at who could fill in for Martinelli if he is unavailable.

Leandro Trossard

Perhaps the most obvious pick is Leandro Trossard. The Belgian has generally started on the left when Martinelli has been unavailable in the past and sometimes even got in ahead of him on merit.

Trossard has shown he can deliver in big games after scoring crucial goals against Liverpool and Porto already this season. He's a very different player from Martinelli though.

While Martinelli will look to use his pace to stretch opposition backlines, Trossard prefers to come to feet and link