Arsenal head to Leeds United in an unusual position, with just one player unavailable through injury and that is 16-year-old Max Dowman.
Injuries have shaped Arsenal’s recent seasons as much as their three second-place finishes in the league, and this campaign has been no different.
After 23 league games and 35 matches in total, only three players have been available for every game, David Raya, Mikel Merino and Myles Lewis-Skelly.
Yet heading into the weekend fixture at Elland Road, Arsenal are close to a clean bill of health.
The midweek Champions League game against Kairat Almaty saw Riccardo Calafiori return to the starting line-up, while Kai Havertz made his first start in almost a year.
William Saliba and Jurrien Timber were absent from the squad with what were described as niggles, but both have since been cleared to return.
Asked about their availability, Mikel Arteta explained, “Yeah, they are okay. Obviously, they have played a lot of minutes, they’ve been carrying a few niggles, and it was a really good opportunity for us to offload them a little bit and refresh them.”
Arteta also confirmed there were no new injury concerns following the Champions League fixture, and provided an update on Dowman, who picked up an ankle injury in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Manchester United, a match organised to help Gabriel Jesus build fitness.
“Well, [the injury was] a little bit more [serious] than Mosquera’s,” he said. “Obviously, we need to be, as well, he’s growing, and we need to be very careful and a little bit more protective.
“He has a different schedule as well because he needs to go to schools and that, so we need to respect a lot of things throughout that process, but I think he’s quite close.
“He’s on the pitch now, he’s doing well, and hopefully we’re going to be able to see him soon.”
Attention also turned to Havertz, who completed his first start after a long absence.
Asked whether the forward is ready to go again against Leeds, Arteta said, “Yeah, he’s ready, obviously he started the day, obviously it’s been a long period and now we need to manage that load and the games that we’re going to select for him to start, but there was no reaction to that, I think it was super positive, you could see straight away the impact that he can have in the team, so yeah, he’s ready.”
For a squad that has so often been stretched by fitness issues, Arsenal arrive at Elland Road in unfamiliar territory, with options available and key players returning at a crucial point in the season.