Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is sweating over the fitness of a key defender for the visit of Chelsea to the Emirates for Tuesday's Premier League London derby.
The Gunners rose to the top of the pile by beating Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 on Saturday night, in a fixture where neither Jurrien Timber (ACL) nor Takehiro Tomiyasu (knock) were available.
Timber will sit out the visit of the Blues too, although he returned to action for the Under-21s on Monday night, while Tomiyasu remains a question mark due to the issue he picked up in the Champions League against Bayern Munich.
Arsenal affirmed that the Japanese's absence from the squad at Molineux was only precautionary, but given his history of fitness problems, it would not be surprising to see Arteta err on the side of caution.
The Gunners boss may consider a change at full-back either way, as Jakub Kiwior flattered to deceive in the beating of Wolves, so Oleksandr Zinchenko should gear up for a return to the first XI.
Ben White, William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes will retain their spots ahead of David Raya, now on 13 clean sheets for the season, while Martin Odegaard and ex-Chelsea product Declan Rice are mainstays in the middle.
Arteta may be tempted to recall another erstwhile Blues man in Jorginho to the number six role, though, in turn pushing Kai Havertz into the number nine position as Gabriel Jesus makes way.
There is still no respite for Bukayo Saka, but despite his opening goal at the weekend, Leandro Trossard is at risk of losing out to Gabriel Martinelli, whose direct approach might be preferred from the off against Malo Gusto or Axel Disasi.
Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Odegaard, Jorginho, Rice; Saka, Havertz, Martinelli
> Click here to see how Chelsea could line up for this clash
Ben Knapton
