Arsenal Team News: Player Ruled Out + Wenger’s Update On Ozil, Sanchez & Gabriel

Arsenal will look to keep their Champions League hopes alive when Bayern Munich come to the Emirates on Tuesday night.

Ahead of the game, Arsene Wenger has been speaking to the media at his pre-match press conference this afternoon and he’s offered a team news and injury update.

The boss was pleased to confirm that Gabriel is available again after missing the win at Watford with a mysterious injury. The Brazilian international was initially ruled out through illness before it was later claimed he’d undergone a minor operation.

However, Arsene said after the game at Vicarage Road that Gabriel was already back in training and should be available to face Bayern, and the boss has now confirmed the defender should return to the squad tomorrow night.

TEAM NEWS: "Gabriel is back available and everybody has recovered from Saturday." #AFCvBAY pic.twitter.com/VObGfbOmt9

— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) October 19, 2015

We’ll have to wait and see whether Gabriel is brought straight back in to the starting eleven but I have a feeling Wenger may keep Per Mertesacker alongside Laurent Koscielny in the middle of defence.

Wenger has also ruled out the idea of resting Mesut Ozil or Alexis Sanchez for the game despite previously indicating he may be tempted to give his star duo a breather after the win at Watford on Saturday.

When asked about the prospect of Ozil and Sanchez being rested, Wenger told reporters:

“Certainly not unless I have a very bad sleepless night and get it wrong,”

“They should play tomorrow. “I don’t think it’s a risk. These medical predictions are beyond even the most sophisticated doctors. “They are used to playing, they are in good condition and they don’t complain. They don’t have any specific medical problems so I don’t see why they shouldn’t play.”

The boss has indicated the Premier League is his priority this season but it would send the wrong message if he was to leave out two of our best players – plus we simply have to win tomorrow night if we’re to stand any chance of progressing from the group stages.

It appears Petr Cech is also set to start in goal after Wenger revealed that David Ospina will miss the game with a shoulder injury. The Colombian missed the trip to Vicarage Road at the weekend after picking up the problem while away on international duty and with the injury still causing his problems, Cech is now set to make his first appearance in Europe since joining the club.

“Ospina is out injured. He came back from Colombia with a shoulder problem and he’s out.” Wenger is quoted as saying by Sky Sports

Arsenal head in to the game sitting bottom of Group F after shock defeats to Dinamo Zagreb and Olympiakos so we must secure a positive result against Bayern to keep alive our hopes of qualifying for the knockout stage.