Arsenal injury list & expected return dates ahead of crucial Tottenham Hotspur clash

All Arsenal can do now is hope, pray, and keep winning matches. The Gunners know that the fate of their Premier League title challenge no longer lies in their own hands, and that if they are to finally end a two-decade wait for the famous top flight trophy, they will have to rely on defending champions Manchester City also dropping points between now and the end of the campaign.

At the very least, however, Arsenal appear to upholding their end of the bargain by doing all they can to apply pressure on Pep Guardiola’s side. After the recent double-headed disappointment of an unexpected defeat to Aston Villa and a Champions League exit at the hands of Bayern Munich, the Gunners could quite easily have crumbled and wilted in the days since. Instead, Mikel Arteta’s men have come out swinging, coasting past Wolves at the weekend with a 2-0 victory at Molineux on Saturday night, and putting Chelsea to the sword in a rampant display on Tuesday evening at the Emirates.

Indeed, Arsenal ran out 5-0 winners over their London rivals in midweek, with braces from Kai Havertz and Ben White, as well as an opening strike from Leandro Trossard, proving far too much for Mauricio Pochettino’s typically disjointed visitors. That result elevated the Gunners to the top of the table once more, three points clear of Liverpool in second. Crucially, however, Arteta’s side have played one fixture more than the Reds, and two more than Manchester City in third. If Pep Guardiola’s title favourites were to win their pair of games in hand, they would move back to the summit and open up a two point lead over the teams beneath them.

Next up for Arsenal is a tricky North London derby against bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday afternoon. Ange Postecoglou’s men will also see the meeting as a must-win clash, not only for reasons of pride, but also because they are embroiled in a fierce battle for a top four finish with Aston Villa.

The Gunners have an admirable recent record against their neighbours, losing just one of their past six encounters with Spurs, but they did drop points when the two sides met at the Emirates earlier in the season. That match ended in a 2-2 draw, with Arsenal taking the lead twice only to be pegged back on both occasions by a Son Heung-min brace.

But how will Mikel Arteta set his team up this weekend? We’ve taken a look at Arsenal’s (admittedly very short) absentee list to determine who is likely to miss out on the short trip to N17...

Jurrien Timber

At this crucial stage of the season, Arsenal find themselves in relatively rude health. In fact, at the time of writing, the only player currently consigned to the treatment room is Dutch defender Jurrien Timber. The summer signing suffered a nasty ACL injury on the opening weekend of the campaign, and has been sidelined ever since.

There is, however, a growing optimism that Timber could still play some part for the Gunners during the final stages of their title push. Speaking about his player ahead of the win over Chelsea, Arteta said: 'He's been training really good. He looks ready. He needs that exposure, and after that, we'll assess whether that game comes at the right time or too fast. We’ll try to get him with us for the final games.'

As yet, there is no concrete return date set for Timber’s comeback, but he continues to train and will face assessment ahead of the weekend.