Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has confirmed that he expects Kai Havertz to be available for the Gunners' Premier League clash with Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday evening.
The German attacker sat out the 3-1 win over Brentford on New Year's Day due to a sickness bug, which has apparently been making its way through the London Colney camp.
Havertz's absence proved trivial on the evening, as Gabriel Jesus, Mikel Merino and Gabriel Martinelli cancelled out Bryan Mbeumo's opener to propel Arsenal to their third straight Premier League win.
The 25-year-old was never expected to be sidelined for long, and speaking at his pre-game press conference on Friday morning, Arteta affirmed that he was confident about Havertz's availability for Saturday.
"Yes I think so," Arteta replied when asked if he expected Havertz to be fit. "The ones with the illness I think they're going to be OK, they will train today, if everybody's fine they should be available."
Havertz on track to be fit as Ben White update given
Havertz's return means that Arsenal should be missing five players for the trip to the Amex Stadium on Saturday, including Jurrien Timber, who is suspended after picking up his fifth caution of the season at Brentford.
Bukayo Saka faces several weeks out after hamstring surgery, while Raheem Sterling, Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu are all on the mend from knee problems, but Arteta has not ruled the former out of the FA Cup third-round clash with Manchester United on January 12.
"He's starting to do some stuff on the pitch," Arteta said on Sterling. "That's great news, as quick as possible we want him available. Let's see how he progresses next week and see if we can get him available for the following week."
Tomiyasu and White are longer-term absentees for Arsenal, but their recoveries are going well, Arteta revealed, adding: "Ben still a few weeks away, Tomi has done some stuff on the pitch but it's been a long-term injury and we need to see how that knee reacts."
White was initially not expected back from his November operation until March, but Arteta confirmed that "it might be a possibility" that the Englishman is back in contention before the end of the month.
How will Arsenal replace Timber for Brighton clash?
With all of Timber, White and Tomiyasu unavailable for the trip to Brighton, Arteta is bereft of any senior right-back options and will likely field Thomas Partey in that position, as he has done a few times already this season.
The Ghana international has operated at right-back against Fulham, Southampton, Liverpool and Newcastle United in the current Premier League campaign, although Arsenal only won one of those matches.
However, Arteta's only alternative would be to hand 18-year-old Joshua Nichols his first Premier League start, as another option - Josh Robinson - was sold to Wigan Athletic on New Year's Day.
Partey started in midfield against Brentford, but Arteta is expected to bring Declan Rice back into the XI on Saturday, thereby allowing the former Atletico Madrid man to provide emergency defensive cover.
Arsenal remain six points behind leaders Liverpool in the Premier League table having played a game more than the Reds, but victory on Saturday would see them reduce the deficit to three points before Arne Slot's men host Manchester United on Sunday. body check tags ::
