Mikel Arteta has been preparing his Arsenal players on the training pitches this week for their first Premier League game at Emirates Stadium of the new season with Leeds United as the visitors. Both teams kicked off their respective campaigns with very different 1-0 victories.
The Gunners put in a dogged display to beat a motivated Manchester United at Old Trafford while Daniel Farke's side saw a controversial penalty hand them all three points. In the following days, a significant amount has taken place in north London.
Kai Havertz suffering an injury would have been the biggest story until Arsenal responded to that by reaching an agreement with Crystal Palace to sign Eberechi Eze right under the noses of bitter rivals Tottenham.
READ MORE: Arsenal make Eberechi Eze debut decision for Leeds after medical for £67.5m transfer
READ MORE: Latest Arsenal injury news as six could miss Leeds with Eberechi Eze wait and Ben White update
Arteta and his players now have the chance to put the pressure on reigning champions Liverpool with their clash against Newcastle United not until Monday evening. With all of that being said, football.london has rounded up all the important things spotted from the latest session at London Colney.
Havertz replacementWith Havertz unavailable, Arteta will not only need to select a replacement in his matchday squad but also decide which player likely replaces Viktor Gyokeres up top.
At Old Trafford, Havertz came on for the Swede in the 60th minute and it looks as though the player that will be deployed through the middle, if he is taken off again, has been revealed. From the training pictures uploaded to Arsenal's official website, Gabriel Martinelli has been captured wearing an orange bib with the No.9 on his back.
With Noni Madueke and Gabriel Magalhaes captured wearing 11 and 4, respectively, it certainly suggests that Martinelli will be the back-up centre-forward this weekend. Arteta also has Leandro Trossard and Mikel Merino as players that can be deployed in that role.
Transfer hintArsenal are yet to sell any first-team players this summer and it does not look as though any fringe players are close to departing.
Fabio Vieira, who has been in talks to join Stuttgart, was pictured laughing in a group alongside fourth-choice left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko while Fulham-linked Reiss Nelson was also prominently involved.
Even with the injury issues, it seems unlikely any of the trio will be picked for the weekend.
Injury blows 'confirmed'While those three players that are unlikely to be at the club next month were involved,a key trio were absent, which confirmed Arteta's injury update.
"Unfortunately, he [Havertz] picked up an injury and we don't really know yet the extent of it,"he said in a press conference. "I think we need a bit more time and some more tests and after that we'll have more clarity about the next steps. I don't know [how bad]. The bad scenario is that he can't play tomorrow.
"Christian [Norgaard] won't be in the squad. With Ben [White], let's see still how he reacts and what we decide. But Christian will be out for another week or so."
Arsenal have options to replace the trio but he will want them back as soon as possible given both their importance.
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