Arsenal Injury Update: Ozil, Welbeck, Ramsey & More

Arsenal have been handed a major boost with Mesut Ozil set to make his comeback this weekend but Aaron Ramsey and Danny Welbeck are still struggling to be past fit, according to the Telegraph.

We welcome Stoke City to the Emirates on Sunday afternoon and the newspaper claims that Ozil is now fit and keen to start playing again having returned to full training last week.

The German international hasn’t played since injuring his knee ligaments back in early October during our loss to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge but he’s now back in contention after over three months on the sidelines.

It remains to be seen whether Arsene Wenger will start the 26-year-old straight away but I think we’ll see him eased back into action with a substitute appearance against Stoke before possibly starting against Manchester City the following week.

It’s a huge boost to have Ozil available again as despite criticism over his performances at times, he’s been sorely missed these past few months and it will be good for Arsene to have another option in attack as we’ve been overly-reliant on the likes of Santi Cazorla in recent weeks.

Wenger confirmed after Sunday’s win over Hull that Aaron Ramsey has a ‘little chance’ of returning to the squad this weekend after a month out with a hamstring injury but the Telegraph suggest the Welshman is still not back in full training so will undergo further assessment later in the week before his availability is determined.

The newspaper also states that Danny Welbeck has still not returned to training as he continues to nurse a thigh injury that’s left him sidelined since the West Ham game, so the striker will also face a late fitness test to see if he can take on Stoke.

With Olivier Giroud available again having served his three-game ban, there is no need to rush Welbeck so I hope we don’t take any unnecessary risks with him.

In other team news, Mathieu Flamini is expected to return against Stoke on Sunday after missing the last two games with a knock but Mikel Arteta is still out with an on-going calf problem.