will wait until Friday’s training session before deciding whether to risk the fitness of William Saliba and Bukayo Saka against Chelsea.
following the minor hamstring strain he picked up during the defeat against Lens.
The 22-year-old missed the landmark victory over a fortnight ago and was unable to feature for England in the wins over Australia and Italy.
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The Gunners travel to Stamford Bridge on Saturday hoping to win what would be an unprecedented fourth consecutive game at the home of their west London rivals and Arteta hopes to have two of his main men available.
He said: ‘Not a lot (of team news). We haven’t had a lot of players. We’re going to do our first training session today and we’ll know more after the session.’
Saliba missed the run-in last season with a back injury and Arsenal’s title bid fell apart during the period in which the elegant centre-half was unavailable.
Asked if the toe injury could represent a long-term concern, Arteta said: ‘Hopefully not. He’s been carrying that for weeks now.
‘We had to use that time to settle and we believed it was the best moment to do that.’
With England now assured of a place at Euro 2024, meanwhile, and dead rubbers against Malta as well as North Macedonia on the horizon next month, Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate now has the option to ease the burden on the players likely to be starting for him next summer.
Given the concerns over burnout for Saka, Arteta was asked if he hoped England would take a more cautious approach with his star winger.
The Arsenal boss said: ‘I don’t know how they’ll approach it. When our players are fit, we are happy to let them go to the national teams, the players want to go. It is a great opportunity for them.
‘Sometimes players feel better when playing every three or four days. They can get knocks, this is part of the game. I’m sure he wants to play [against Chelsea]. I don’t see any player that doesn’t want to be in the starting XI.’
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