Arsenal manager Unai Emery has said that Granit Xhaka’s involvement against Newcastle United could be determined by a late fitness test at the weekend.
The Switzerland international suffered an adductor injury during his country’s 3-3 draw against Denmark in an Euro 2020 qualifier and he has missed the training session on his return to club duty.
In a press conference covered by Football.London, Emery confirmed that Xhaka was voluntarily rested from the training session on Friday but he should make a recovery prior to the Monday night league showdown against the Magpies.
The Spanish tactician also dropped fitness updates on Aaron Ramsey and Konstantinos Mavropanos with the former managing to recover from a minor thigh problem sustained while training with the Welsh national side.
He said: “We trained this morning and some players rested for giving them one day more to train with us tomorrow. Aaron Ramsey, Mavropanos. They can be ready for Monday.
“Xhaka also rested today, we’re going to wait [until] tomorrow and Sunday but the first previews from the doctor is that he can progress to be ready for Monday.”
Xhaka has been heavily involved in terms of the club’s progress this year and he has been much more mobility and accurate with his distribution when compared to the beginning of the season.
As such, his absence could leave a potential void with Lucas Torreira currently suspended and one of Matteo Guendouzi, Denis Suarez or Mohamed Elneny could be tasked to partner Ramsey in central midfield.
Winter recruit Suarez has certainly earned the least amount of gametime compared to Guendouzi and Elneny this year, but the Spaniard could stand a chance of making his maiden competitive start for the side after impressing during a friendly game against Al-Nasr during the international break.
Arsenal are currently fourth in the league standings with 60 points, but they stand the opportunity of propelling to third by the conclusion of the gameweek, should arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur fail to come up with maximum points at Liverpool.
