Arsenal Team News: Wenger Gives Latest On Gibbs, Arteta, Podolski & More

Arsenal play Cardiff City on Saturday afternoon looking to cement their place at the top of the Premier League.

The Gunners already hold a four point lead over second-placed Liverpool but with the rest of the top four not playing until Sunday, the north Londoners can extend their lead to seven points with a win over Cardiff.

Ahead of the game, boss Arsene Wenger has given Arsenal.com the latest team news with an update on Mikel Arteta, Kieran Gibbs, Lukas Podolski and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Wenger confirmed that his side didn’t pick up any fresh injury concerns following the 2-0 win over Marseille and Mikel Arteta is expected to return this weekend after being given a rest in midweek. Gibbs missed the clash on Tuesday with sickness but he is back in the squad and is likely to return to the left-back slot with Nacho Monreal dropping out.

German international Lukas Podolski returned to full training this week after recovering from a hamstring tear but Wenger confirmed the attacker is still three weeks away from being in contention for a first team return, while Oxlade-Chamberlain won’t feature until the New Year.

Here’s what Arsene told the clubs official website:

on the team news for Cardiff…

No, nothing is different from Marseille really. We have no injuries. Of course we have some little concerns. People were a little bit rested like Arteta but they are all available now.

on Gibbs..

Kieran Gibbs was sick but he has already recovered yesterday. He is now back in the squad.

on Podolski’s progress…

It will be three weeks until we could see him in the team.

on Oxlade-Chamberlain…

it will be the New Year for him.

The boss has some decisions to make in midfield this weekend and it’s going to be interesting to see who he goes with. It’s a nice problem to have and the return of players to fitness means we can start to rotate a bit over the next few games.

What starting line-up would you like to see the boss choose?