Arsenal injury news and expected return dates vs Tottenham: Odegaard, Partey and Zinchenko

The Premier League returns with a bang on Saturday as Arsenal welcome Tottenham Hotspur to the Emirates Stadium for the first North London Derby of the season. It promises to be an epic battle, with Arsenal sat top of the Premier League and Spurs just a point behind them.

Mikel Arteta’s side will have to be at their best to defeat a Tottenham side who are yet to lose a league game this season. However, the Spaniard does have a number of injury doubts heading into the game.

Martin Odegaard

There is considerable hope in the Arsenal camp that Odegaard will return to the team for the North London Derby. The midfielder missed the Gunners’ 3-0 win over Brentford just before the international break with a calf problem, but played for Norway in their Nations League fixtures against Slovenia and Serbia.

Thomas Partey

The midfielder returned from international duty earlier than expected after picking up a knee injury while away with Ghana. The midfielder had only just made a return from injury, where he missed games against Fulham, Aston Villa and Manchester United with a tight right groin.

However, Arsenal are hopeful that Partey will be available for this weekend and he will continue to be assessed in the lead up to the game.

Kieran Tierney

Tierney is set to be available for the North London Derby. The defender was forced off in the first half of Scotland’s 2-1 win over the Republic of Ireland in the Nations League last Saturday after suffering a blow to the head, but Scotland boss Steve Clarke confirmed he was only taken off a precaution. He is expected to recover in time for the visit of Spurs.

Oleksandr Zinchenko

Like with Partey, Arsenal are hopeful that Zinchenko will be available for selection against Antonio Conte’s side. A calf injury kept the left-back out of the win against Brentford, while he also didn’t go away on international duty with Ukraine due to the problem.

Takehiro Tomiyasu

Arsenal are optimistic that Tomiyasu will be fit for the clash, but he remains a doubt. The right-back went away with Japan during the international break, but returned to north London early due to ‘club circumstances’.

The full statement from the Japanese FA reads: “We would like to inform you that defender TOMIYASU Takehiro (Arsenal) will be withdrawing from the SAMURAI BLUE ahead of the KIRIN CHALLENGE CUP 2022 Ecuador National Team match on September 27th due to club circumstances.”

Cedric Soares

As reported by football.london’s Arsenal writer Kaya Kaynak, Cedric has picked up a fresh injury that is likely to keep him out of action for a week or two. The Portuguese right-back had just returned from an injury that kept him out of the games against FC Zurich and Brentford, but he has suffered another setback. He is yet to feature so far this season for the Gunners.

Reiss Nelson

The winger could be in a matchday squad for the first time this season on Saturday, with the 22-year-old now back in training.

Mohamed Elneny

Elneny is still suffering from a hamstring injury which he sustained against Fulham last month. Arteta has described the injury as ‘long term’.