Arsenal get injury boost, Granit Xhaka transfer truth, Mikel Arteta issues Liverpool verdict

Arsenal have the opportunity to lay down another marker in the title race this weekend. The Gunners will be determined to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League when they take on Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Saturday afternoon.

Mikel Arteta's side enjoyed a 3-0 away win over Slavia Praha in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night, meaning they've now won each of their last 10 games across all competitions. Arsenal have also conceded just once since the end of September.

As for the Black Cats, they've had a superb start to the campaign, climbing to fourth in the table. A victory against the north London outfit could see them leapfrog Manchester City and Liverpool into second.

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So, with that being said, football.london has picked out the best bits from Arteta's press conference.

Arteta keeps cards close to chest

Arteta kept his cards close to his chest when he was asked to provide an update on Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz, Noni Madueke, Viktor Gyokeres, and Gabriel Martinelli, who have each been nursing their own knocks and niggles recently.

On whether or not they're available for selection, the Arsenal boss said: "I cannot confirm all of that, but you are not far."

Later in the press conference, a journalist pointed out that Arteta sounded 'hopeful' that he might have one of the five aforementioned players at his disposal on Saturday afternoon. The Spaniard snapped back: "When?"

Then, as the reporter reeled off the players' names, Arteta interjected and said: "No, I didn't say that. Let's see what happens in the next week. I don't want to give too much away."

Xhaka forced Arteta to rethink Arsenal project

Arteta was bombarded with questions about Granit Xhaka at the Sobha Realty Training Centre on Friday morning. The Sunderland midfielder featured 147 times across all competitions for the Arsenal boss, scoring 12 goals and 12 assists.

Xhaka helped Arteta win his first – and only – major trophy as a manager before leaving the Gunners to join Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2023. The Spaniard said: "I loved every minute that we spent together.

"When I joined, he was in a special moment of his life and his career, and between all of us, we tried to guide him, to give him a different perspective, to make him feel loved, valued, and he responded in an incredible way.

"He made me a better coach, he helped us to develop and improve a lot as a football team and as a club, and I will be eternally grateful because I have great memories with him."

On whether he tried to convince Xhaka to stay, Arteta said: "Well, I already did it once and then we extended his contract and when he came in and explained the reasons, you have to understand the human being, you have to be grateful.

"It was a unique opportunity for him to come back to his country, to his family, and there were certain things that he wanted to experience as well, and I believe it was the right moment. He was very honest, as he is very straightforward as he always is and we'll find a way to find a good solution for all of us."

Later in the press conference, Arteta explained why Xhaka left when he did. The Arsenal boss added: "It wasn't obviously an easy decision because I knew the impact that he could still have at the club and the team.

"But then when you have one of those leaders that's as well you need to have in the right frame of mind and fully committed and him feeling that this is the best place for him and Granit when he expressed his idea, the reasons why he believed he was better now or the right timing after everything that we went through together to take another challenge and take that journey somewhere else, it really made me think whether it was the right thing again to try to persuade him to stay if he was having already such a deep feeling about it."

Arteta remains coy on title race

Arteta was also asked about the title race, with Manchester City set to lock horns with Liverpool on Sunday afternoon. He said: "I'm just focused on tomorrow's game, how crucial, how difficult and how tough it's going to be, and that's the first step we have to make."

The Gunners boss added: "Well as you said every weekend is crucial, there are weekends that for other possible results or other games maybe they are a little bit more important, but at the end you need to just conquer a certain amount of points if you want to achieve your goals and the three points against Sunderland tomorrow are going to be really tough and we're going to have to really earn them."

Jesus DOES NOT face uncertain future

Arteta clarified that Gabriel Jesus, who has recently returned to training following a serious knee injury, does not face an uncertain future at Arsenal. The Spaniard said: "Well, again, a player that is very unpredictable, full of energy, super competitive.

"A player that comes from a context of difficulty in the last few seasons for various nasty injuries. So the level of hunger and desire that he's going to bring to the team is going to be amazing.

"So I'm thrilled to have him, I think he's going to add something extra to the team that we don't have and make sure that very soon we see him on that pitch making an impact for the team."

On Jesus' condition, Arteta said: "Obviously, he's been doing everything on his own; now he's got players around him, very competitive players around him, and see how he copes with that.

"But he's full of energy, I love the reaction of all his teammates when he first joined us and yeah, great to have him back."