Arsenal without at least 5 players vs Brentford as Arteta drops Odegaard update

24 November 2023 , 10:57

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Mikel Arteta has confirmed Gabriel Jesus is available for Arsenal's trip to Brentford on Saturday - but doubts remain over the fitness of Martin Odegaard and Ben White.

Jesus has missed Arsenal's last five games in all competitions with a hamstring injury but featured for Brazil during the international break. Arteta spoke to reporters on Friday to confirm the 26-year-old striker is available for the Premier League clash in west London.

"Well he's available," said the Gunners boss when asked. "He played 96/97 minutes in a competitive match, so yeah. We have another session, they had a long flight and I have to see the condition of every single player to make the final call on the line up."

Arsenal will be missing at least five players on Saturday, though. Fabio Vieira is suspended after being sent off in the 3-1 win against Burnley two weeks ago, while David Raya - who joined Arsenal on loan from Brentford in August - is ineligible to play against his parent club.

Thomas Partey is still nursing a hamstring complaint and isn't expected to play until Christmas at the earliest, while Jurrien Timber won't be fit again for some time due to his anterior cruciate ligament injury. Emile Smith Rowe also has a knee issue.

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Yet Odegaard could face Brentford, having not featured in the league for more than a month. "Hopefully, yes," said Arteta when asked about his captain. "We have another training session today, but he’s been progressing well and hopefully he will be available."

Arteta also confirmed that Odegaard has been suffering with a concussion. He added: "We didn’t know how many days (he would be out for). It depends on certain things and at the end he got more delayed than we wanted, but we had to protect the player."

Aaron Ramsdale will play against Brentford on Saturday (Getty Images)

White missed Arsenal's recent 3-1 win against Burnley with a knock but is also close to a return. Arteta said: "Hopefully (he's available on Saturday). If he is able to train today, he will be eligible to play. But it’s a question mark to be resolved in the next few hours."

Arteta was also asked whether Aaron Ramsdale will start in Raya's absence. The Englishman has lost his spot in Arsenal's starting XI since Raya's loan move from Brentford, with his dad Nick publicly criticising Arteta. Yet the Gunners boss is happy with Ramsdale.

He said: "No (change in his mood). I think every player is willing to play obviously and they’re all excited to play and they always expect to play. Sometimes they get disappointment the day before or a few hours before the match, but every player is willing to play."

Gabriel Jesus played for Brazil during the international break (Getty Images)

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Arteta also provided an update on Timber's recovery. The Netherlands international hasn't played since injuring an ACL on his Premier League debut in August. "Brilliant, absolutely brilliant," he said when asked about Timber's attitude around the training ground.

"You talk to anyone in the building, anyone that gets close to him, he’s a really special character. We were really impressed when we signed him because sometimes when you see the player live in your environment playing and training... we went, 'Wow'.

"An incredible player. But that player had a big setback and a difficult moment to go through and he’s been really special in the way he’s handled the situation."

Arteta was also asked if Timber will be back on the training pitch in the near future. He replied: "Well I hope so. Doing one kind of activity is very different. On the field is still far from competing, but he’s in a good place."