Arsenal can welcome back five players for Nottingham Forest in boost to Mikel Arteta

Arsenal have endured a difficult season when it comes to injuries. The Gunners have lost numerous players for varying lengths of time but crucially Mikel Arteta has seen his captain Martin Odegaard miss key games and his side suffer as a result.

The crisis reached such a stage where Arsenal finished their huge match with Liverpool with a back four consisting of Thomas Partey, Ben White, Jakub Kiwior and Myles Lewis-Skelly. Injuries have been made worse by three suspensions due to red cards to William Saliba, Leandro Trossard and Declan Rice.

Thankfully, the club is starting to recover and several players are close to a return after varying absences. The Gunners will return to Premier League action with Nottingham Forest next week as they attempt to find their first win in well over a month in the league.

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Arsenal could be boosted by as many as five returning players to the matchday squad. It is hoped that this international break has provided the much-needed break from domestic games to give Arteta back his firepower.

Raheem Sterling is the first who missed the match with Chelsea. Due to the fact he is on loan from the west London club he is of course ineligible to play against them and therefore was not in the squad.

Sterling has not been able to make a meaningful impact yet in north London but perhaps this upcoming run of games will allow him to do just that. Having been rather outspoken with his words upon arrival, he needs to deliver something big soon.

Both Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice came off the field against Chelsea. The pair were unable to complete the game and Mikel Arteta spoke afterwards in pessimistic tones but so far nothing has emerged to suggest that either suffered a serious problem.

“It doesn’t look good because two players of that importance tell you that they cannot continue in the game, so it obviously isn’t good news,” he said. It will be hoped that both can return to the squad for the match with Forest.

The final two players have been missing for several weeks. Takehiro Tomiyasu thought he had put his injury woes behind him when he came on at the end of the game with Southampton but somehow he managed to injure himself in the very same game.

Now though, with yet more recovery having been undertaken, the Japanese international is close to a return. It comes at a good time with Ben White having just undergone a procedure to fix an ongoing problem with his joint.

Riccardo Calafiori has been a huge miss on the left-hand-side and his absence against Liverpool in particular was sorely felt. Gabriel Martinelli was enjoying the Italian’s support on the wing and he might now be glad to see him return.

Again, with White out, it means Jurrien Timber can move to right-back and Calafiori come into the left-back role. Arsenal take on Nottingham Forest on Saturday, November 23 at 3pm.