Arsene Wenger has been speaking to the media at his pre-match press conference today ahead of Arsenal’s clash with Chelsea on Saturday evening.
Despite being five points behind their London rivals after two games, the Gunners head into the weekend ahead of Chelsea on goal difference and in the final Champions League place.
The visitors will also be missing John Terry through injury and have picked up only one point from their last two games, conceding two goals in each. Whoever starts up front for Arsenal on Saturday will surely fancy their chances against a centre-back pairing of David Luiz and Gary Cahill, just as Liverpool did last Friday.
One player who could be in contention to start up front for Arsenal tomorrow is Olivier Giroud but the French striker will need to undergo a test to prove his fitness, the Arsenal boss revealed today.
That was the only positive news from Arsene Wenger who also confirmed that Aaron Ramsey is still struggling with his hamstring injury and expects the Welsh international to miss their next three games, against Chelsea, FC Basel and Burnley.
Ramsey picked up his injury in Arsenal’s 3-4 loss to Liverpool in their first match of the season with the manager later admitting that he’d rushed his midfielder back sooner than he should have.
Arsene Wenger told Arsenal.com:
on team news…
We have no new injuries. Olivier Giroud has a test to see if he can be involved [on Saturday], he had a good training session [on Thursday] so he is really the only one who could come back.on Ramsey…
Aaron Ramsey is still struggling with his hamstring and I don’t think that he will be available for our next game against Basel or at Burnley, so before the break he will not be available.He is not completely free in his mind yet to push completely, so we stop him every time when he has a little pain. He is in the last days of his rehab and as long as he is not completely comfortable, we do not push him.
on whether he will go on international duty with Wales…
I don’t think so.on Giroud being ahead of schedule…
“A little bit, yes, because I thought that he would be short for [the Chelsea game]. But we will see how he comes out of today’s training session.”on Ramsey being behind schedule…
“We had a few disappointments because he was close to joining again and every time he is not completely ready. Not far, but we have to be cautious with him.”
As well as Ramsey, Arsenal are also without Per Mertesacker, Danny Welbeck and Carl Jenkinson.
The North London club have recently welcomed back defender Gabriel Paulista who started in the 4-0 thrashing of Nottingham Forest in the EFL Cup on Tuesday night.
