Gabriel Martinelli is expected to be fit for Sunday’s Premier League match between Brighton & Hove Albion and Arsenal, according to manager Mikel Arteta.
The Brazil international missed Monday’s training session due to an illness, therefore he was not available for the Gunners’ midweek Champions League group-stage match against PSV Eindhoven.
For the trip to Eindhoven, Martinelli was left behind. In a 1-1 dead-rubber tie, Leandro Trossard and Reiss Nelson were selected into the starting lineup on each side of Eddie Nketiah.
Nevertheless, it was not anticipated that Martinelli’s injury would keep him out of action for very long, as Arteta stated during his pre-match press conference that the 22-year-old will be allowed to play in North London.
Regarding Mohamed Elneny, who left Tuesday’s tie with a hamstring injury, the Spaniard also had good news to report. However, Arteta does not think the Egyptian is dealing with a catastrophic injury.
Arteta said, “He’s feeling good,” in response to a question regarding Martinelli’s health, as reported by football.london. He’ll be competitive,” she said, adding that Elneny’s scans had revealed nothing alarming.
“Mo needed to be replaced. Something prickled in his hamstring. We’re happy to report that he won’t be leaving anytime soon because our scan revealed nothing too bad.”
Despite this, Elneny is still anticipated to miss Sunday’s game against the Seagulls, joining Thomas Partey (thigh), Takehiro Tomiyasu (calf), Jurrien Timber (knee), and Fabio Vieira (groyne) on the sidelines.
The game between Arsenal and Roberto De Zerbi’s club will also be the first for the hosts since Arteta was exonerated of an FA charge stemming from his post-match remarks following Newcastle United’s defeat last month, in which he criticised “disgraceful” and “embarrassing” choices to oppose his team.
The Gunners boss might have faced a fine or suspension when the FA accused the Spaniard of using derogatory language that hurt the match and/or damaged the reputation of the sport, but the accusation was dismissed by an impartial panel.
“I think it was a really good, well run process,” Arteta said, praising the panel’s “really good process” and expressing optimism that the inquiry will be utilised as a learning tool going ahead.
It provided us both with the chance to express our feelings and the reasoning behind them. Well, so I’m not charged, but I believe it’s time for us to draw a line and consider how we can move past this and go in a more positive direction. It was excellent. To be honest, I felt a great deal of empathy when I described the stress managers experience and the significance of details to our work.
I want to keep doing what I do because I truly love it. We rely on results, and the truth is that 14 managers lost their jobs. We experience intense emotion when the result is that significant. Nobody recalls the specific reason you lost a game three weeks ago. I consider this to be a pretty decent process.
“It’s us, not them, that matters. Our goal is to improve the game. It concerns how we may enhance the touchline to facilitate player, official, and club life from a technological and ergonomic standpoint. Everything revolves around us. It’s not about individual people trying to perform their parts; we’re all in this together. That won’t work; we must collaborate to complete the task.”
With a victory over Brighton on Sunday at 2 p.m., Arsenal will take over first place in the Premier League standings temporarily, as Liverpool’s match against Manchester United does not begin until 4.30 p.m.