Arsenal have just three Premier League games remaining as they continue to fight for the title, but they do have one advantage.
The Gunners are currently doing the chasing as Manchester City have a game in hand, which could eventually see them go two points clear at the top if they win all of their remaining matches.
This means that, even if Mikel Arteta’s side finish the season with three more wins, and therefore just one league loss in 2024, they may still not win the title against Pep Guardiola’s juggernauts.
Arteta will back his squad to push City all the way regardless, and he has now confirmed that Arsenal have a fully fit squad heading into the final two weeks of the season.
Mikel Arteta confirms Arsenal now have a fully fit squad
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Arteta confirmed that the return of long-term absentee Jurrien Timber means that, for the first time this season, Arsenal have their entire squad available to pick from.
“Yes, everybody is fit and available so now it’s a headache to make the right selection. Good headache,” he stated.
Timber could now return to the squad for the first time in 267 days, and Arteta also confirmed that the Dutchman would not feature for the under-21s again tonight, meaning that he is in contention.
“We’re not going to know until we throw him in. It’s tricky because it’s only three games to go and he’s missed eight months of football. He’s played only 50 minutes of football with the under-21s, so it’s a question that has to be resolved only by throwing him on the pitch and seeing what happens. We have to try to nail that decision,” he added.
Arsenal have a fully-fit squad for the first time under Mikel Arteta
Remarkably, this will be the first time that Arsenal are blessed with a fully fit squad since the late stages of the Unai Emery era.
Arteta’s second game in charge in 2019 saw Calum Chambers pick up a long-term injury, and constant problems have plagued players in his squads throughout his tenure.
The last time Arsenal had a fully fit squad was in October 2019, where Emery had his entire roster to pick from. Rob Holding and Hector Bellerin had recovered from long-term injuries, and there were no other problems in the squad.
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“There were no injury issues from Saturday’s match against Wolves,” a club statement revealed at the time.
“Therefore, with Reiss Nelson featuring for the under-23s on Friday, we currently have no first-team squad players unavailable due to injury.”
Arsenal went on to draw with Vitoria Guimaraes in the Europa League, before falling to a 2-0 defeat to Leicester City with the entire squad available, and Emery was sacked just over a month later.
It has taken nearly five years, but Arsenal now finally find themselves in a scenario where there are no absentees, but this does provide a headache over who Arteta should select on his bench.