Salah misses Emirates trip as Man Utd lose Onana - How AFCON 2023 can affect Arsenal's rivals
The first international break of the season is in the books and whilst would appear that Arsenal's near full-strength squad is still intact, a problem is on the horizon.
With as many 16 first-team players called up by their respective nations, football.londonlooked at what would be the best and worst-case scenario for the Gunners ahead of their return to Premier League action with a trip to Goodison Park to face Everton this weekend.
Simply put, the best-case scenario for Arsenal was every single player reporting back to London Colney this week unscathed, full of confidence and raring to go. With Gabriel Magalhaesshaking off a minor thigh issue sustained on his Brazil debut against Bolivia, the indications are that Mikel Arteta has no fresh injury concerns.
And what may have pleased Arteta the most was seeing Kai Havertz register an assist in Germany's 2-1 win over France on Tuesday night. The £65million summer signing from Chelsea has struggled for consistency in the early stages of his Arsenal career, but getting off the mark with his first goal involvement of the season might be the confidence booster he needed.
Obviously, injuries would have been the fear for Arteta. Considering what happened the last time Gabriel Jesus was with the Brazil squad — suffering medial ligament damage which required surgery and sidelined him until the beginning of March — fortunately, history did not repeat itself.
But it's not just Jesus who was managed carefully during the international break. There's a strong argument that Arsenal's best starting XI when everyone is fit includes Zinchenko, William Saliba, Declan Rice, Odegaard and Bukayo Saka so the fact none have picked up an injury means the nightmare scenario has been avoided.
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