Hector Bellerin is hoping to be ready to feature against Brighton at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday following his injury setback, according to reports.

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 24: Hector Bellerin of Arsenal looks on during the UEFA Europa League group F match between Arsenal FC and Vitoria Guimaraes at Emirates Stadium on October 24, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 24: Hector Bellerin of Arsenal looks on during the UEFA Europa League group F match between Arsenal FC and Vitoria Guimaraes at Emirates Stadium on October 24, 2019, in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)

After his ACL injury kept him out from January until October, Hector Bellerin suffered a further hamstring setback last week. The knock ruled him out of Unai Emery’s final game against Frankfurt and Freddie Ljungberg’s first against Norwich City.

The Standard report Bellerin is now on the verge of being ready to return though. The right-back is “hoping” to make his comeback on Thursday. Though the club’s medical team are still assessing him, he has a chance to feature in the Brighton match.

Kieran Tierney also sat out at the weekend, after playing twice in a week against Southampton and Frankfurt. He should come back into the team as well, which is good news for Arsenal.

Neither Sead Kolasinac nor Calum Chambers were terrible against Norwich City. In fact, Kolasinac was probably one of the better performers for the most part. They just leave too many spaces behind them for a team playing a back four.

In Chambers’ case, Bellerin is simply the superior option right now. The Spaniard is stronger going forward and linking up with his winger, he’s more comfortable in possession and playing a passing game, and he gets back quicker too.

Thankfully, the only other injury sufferer right now is Dani Ceballos. Shkodran Mustafi, David Luiz and Sead Kolasinac all recovered from knocks to feature against Norwich, but Ceballos won’t be back for another couple of weeks.

There’s also a bit of a question around Rob Holding. The centre-back hasn’t been in the squad for three games now, but he also hasn’t featured on any injury updates. We know he had a knock, but his situation remains unclear.