Arsenal are just hours away from taking on Bayern Munich in a Champions League quarter-final tie. The Gunners enter the huge European clash with momentum on their side following a 3-0 win over Brighton this past Saturday, while Bayern surrendered a two-goal lead against FC Heidenheim.
Mikel Arteta is facing a number of decisions ahead of the fixture with Arsenal also in the midst of an intense title race against Liverpool and Manchester City. Last week, Arteta was able to rest the likes of Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice and others ahead of a hectic next few weeks where the Gunners will play six games.
Precautions will likely also be taken in training sessions with Arteta expected to manage the load of his squad in between the quick turnaround for fixtures. With that in mind, football.london has pulled together everything spotted from the open training session Arsenal held at the Sobha Realty Centre on Monday.
For the first time this season, Arteta looks to have the full complement of his squad in training. Both Gabriel Magalhaes and Bukayo Saka had been minor injury doubts in recent weeks with the latter missing out entirely in the win over Luton.
Against Brighton, Saka was back in the starting XI and on the score sheet but he was later withdrawn just beyond the hour mark. Gabriel meanwhile, went down in the second half before receiving treatment from Arsenal’s physios and it looks as though injuries have been avoided by the duo.
While Jurrien Timber has been back in training for the last few weeks, he does not appear to be available for selection quite yet. Arteta is of the belief he will play again this season but it is currently unclear when that date will arrive.
Currently, the Netherlands international is only involved in partial team training however it does look as though he is increasing his workload with one training image suggesting as such. Timber is often pictured alone which could be because he is still doing individual work, however one image showed him competing with Gabriel Martinelli for possession.
Timber returning is still some way off but the signs are positive he has not suffered any setbacks and could still play a key role in the run-in.
Arsenal midfielder Jorginho appeared to have been left rather confused by something that happened in training. The Italy international has played a huge role this season for Arteta but he may find his place in the starting XI up for grabs.
Thomas Partey recently returned from injury and has been handed regular minutes with his first start in eight months coming against Luton Town. With the Ghana international back in the frame, Jorginho will certainly be doing all he can to keep his place which may explain his training action.
Ahead of the Bayern clash, Jorginho has been captured with a puzzled look on his face and his arms pointing towards his feet with it appearing to be in the direction of Gabriel Martinelli.
