Arsenal appear to have Riccardo Calafiori and Bukayo Saka available for Thursday night’s Champions League encounter against Atalanta.
The Gunners begin their European campaign against the current Europa League holders, who defeated Liverpool over two legs last season.
Mikel Arteta’s side won a morale-boosting game over Tottenham on Sunday, which was made all the more impressive by the absence of captain Martin Odegaard and midfield linchpin Declan Rice.
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The skipper will be unavailable again due to an ankle injury sustained on international duty last week, although Rice will return after serving a one-match domestic suspension.
Summer addition Riccardo Calafiori appears to be ready to play after being spotted in training on Tuesday morning, while Bukayo Saka appears to have recovered from the niggle that forced him off in the last minutes of the match against Tottenham.
Mikel Merino, Oleksandr Zinchenko, and Takehiro Tomiyasu are still recovering from injuries and will be unable to go to Bergamo.
Saka appears to be taking on more responsibility this season and is now a member of Arsenal’s senior leadership group. Despite his increased seniority, he acknowledges he misses the presence of his fellow Hale End Academy graduates, all of whom left in the summer.
When asked how it felt to see his former teammates Emile Smith Rowe, Eddie Nketiah, and Reiss Nelson leave, Saka stated on the Men in Blazers podcast: ‘Yeah, I’m not going to lie, I’ve missed them a little.
‘Since I joined the first team, they’ve treated me like big brothers in terms of how they welcome me and everything.
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