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Arsenal have the chance to move to the top of the Premier League table on Saturday when they take on Brentford in the tea-time kick-off.
Mikel Arteta’s team will begin the weekend in third place, two points behind leaders Liverpool and one point off second-placed Manchester City. But with the top two facing off at Anfield on Sunday, the Gunners have the chance to put the pressure on and move to the top of the pile, temporarily, at least.
Arteta’s men beat Sheffield United 6-0 at Bramall Lane last time out, but saw Bukayo Saka replaced at half-time due to illness, while Gabriel Martinelli limped off after cutting his right foot in the second half.
Will Arsenal midfielder Gabriel Martinelli be fit enough to play against Brentford on Saturday evening?
While reports earlier in the week suggest that Saka soon got over his illness and should be available, Arteta was cautiously optimistic when he gave his pre-match injury update.
“Not much,” said the Arsenal boss when asked about the latest team news in Thursday’s press conference. “We’ve got some players back last Monday and then we had Martinelli and Bukayo with little issues. We’re pretty positive that hopefully, they can be part of that. But we’ll have to see.”
Martinelli has scored once and assisted twice in Arsenal’s past two matches, with the Gunners having found the back of the net a staggering 21 times in their past four games.
Takehiro Tomiyasu, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Jurrien Timber are the Gunners’ other longer-term absentees, with Arteta not mentioning the defensive trio in his update.
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