Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal are looking to bounce back from a midweek defeat against PSV Eindhoven (Picture: Getty)
Arsenal have received a boost ahead of Sunday’s Premier League match against Nottingham Forest with long-term absentee Mohamed Elneny returning to first team training.
The Egypt international stood in for Thomas Partey at the end of last season and earned a new one-year contract on the back of some influential displays at the heart of Arsenal’s engine room.
Elneny was expected to play an important role again this season, particularly in the Europa League, but he has been out since the start of September after he suffered an injury in the win over Fulham.
The 30-year-old now appears ready to challenge for a first team place again after he was pictured in training ahead of tomorrow’s must-win clash.
Summer signing Marquinhos, too, appears to be back in contention after he missed Thursday’s defeat against PSV Eindhoven through illness.
Oleksandr Zinchenko, out since the start of October, is still to return to full training, however, and it remains to be seen whether or not he will be risked and make his return before the break for the World Cup.
Regardless of the XI he picks tomorrow, Arteta will demand an improved performance after his side delivered their worst display of the season so far in a 2-0 defeat against Ruud van Nistelrooy’s Eredivisie team.
Mohamed Elneny returned to training after a two-month absence (Picture: Getty)
The Gunners will need to win in order to return to the summit after champions Manchester City beat Leicester on Saturday thanks to Kevin de Bruyne’s brilliant free kick.
Speaking after the defeat in Eindhoven, Arteta said: ‘I’m very disappointed. It’s the end of a long run, where we won a lot of games and today is our first defeat [since the start of September] and we have to reset.
‘Congratulations to PSV – they were the better team today. We were nowhere near our level and we know that in Europe, it’s very difficult to win [then].
‘We didn’t get any control. We didn’t get the ball in the areas we wanted.
‘We gave so many balls away, which allowed so many transitions, which was what they were looking for whenever they got in the right structure.
‘They were on top of a lot of things that last week was different.’
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Mikel Arteta’s squad is stretched at the moment.