Six Arsenal players are in line to return for the team’s Premier League showdown against Tottenham on Saturday, according to Football London.
The Trinity Mirror site claim that long-time absentees Danny Welbeck, David Ospina, Calum Chambers and Shkodran Mustafi are scheduled to be in contention to play in the Emirates Stadium clash.
Rob Holding and Per Mertesacker are also set to be available to face Spurs in the first north London derby of the season.
Defender Chambers (hip) has been out since 20 September, while centre-back Mustafi (groin), striker Welbeck (hamstring) and goalkeeper Ospina (groin) have been sidelined since the first two weeks of October.
Defensive pair Holding (thigh) and Mertesacker (ill) were both absent for the defeat at Manchester City before the international break, but are set to be available to face Spurs.
OPINION
Of the Arsenal players on the comeback trail, the two who would have the most chance of being recalled to the starting XI are Welbeck and Mustafi. The England forward has scored three league goals in six matches this season, including a double against Bournemouth, while £35m signing Mustafi would expect to start if Arsene Wenger persists with a three-man defence. The Francis Coquelin experiment failed dismally against Man City, and it is unlikely to work against Tottenham’s in-form attack, either. Wenger regards Nacho Monreal and Laurent Koscielny as his best two defenders, and the strongest backline would incorporate Mustafi, with Sead Kolasinac and Hector Bellerin on the flanks.