Arsenal Team News: Wenger Offers Update On Sanchez, Koscielny, Arteta & More

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has given an update on the fitness of Alexis Sanchez, Laurent Koscielny, Mikel Arteta, Mathieu Flamini, David Ospina and Joel Campbell ahead of our trip to Watford this weekend.

Koscielny was forced off during our 3-2 defeat to Olympiacos earlier this month after picking up a hamstring injury and he was initially expected to be ruled out for at least three weeks.

However, it looks like the French international is recovering quicker than expected as Wenger has confirmed the centre-back will have a fitness test on Thursday and has a slight chance to face Watford on Saturday evening.

The boss also revealed that Arteta and Flamini are now back in full training and could also be available for the trip to Vicarage Road this weekend.

Both midfielders have been on the sidelines since suffering muscle injuries during our 5-2 win over Leicester at the end of September but it looks like they could return to the squad on Saturday.

It’s been a busy two weeks of international’s with players travelling all over the world to represent their countries but thankfully it appears none of the Arsenal boys have picked up any knocks.

Sanchez was a worry as he played in both of Chile’s World Cup qualifiers despite carrying a groin problem but Wenger says he, along with Campbell and Ospina, have text to confirm they are all OK.

The boss told Arsenal.com:

on Laurent Koscielny…

Koscielny has a slight chance to be back on Saturday. He has a definite test tomorrow

on Arteta and Flamini…

Arteta and Flamini are back in full training. We need to see how they are and how confident they are, but we can’t rule it out.

on other team news…

From the internationals we only have positive news. We are still waiting for Campbell, Alexis and Ospina to return, but they all texted back to say they are OK, so we just have to see if they were objective in their assessment.

It’s great to hear Koscielny could be back quicker than expected but I hope we don’t rush him back for the Watford game. I’d prefer to see Per Mertesacker continue alongside Gabriel this weekend and bring Koscielny back in for our Champions League clash with Bayern Munich next week.