Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has detailed the club's injury issues, with Thomas Partey out for "weeks" and Mohamed Elneny set to be absent for "months".
The Gunners have enjoyed a perfect start to the Premier League campaign with five wins from five but face a stern test at Old Trafford on Sunday against Manchester United, who have bounced back from a slow start to register three consecutive wins.
Midfield injuries have become an issue for Arteta, though, forced to make changes in back-to-back matches in the middle of the park with Albert Sambi Lokonga deputising as Granit Xhaka's partner in midweek.
Arsenal have further problems, too, with Oleksandr Zinchenko missing the last two games and yet to train with the team, while Aaron Ramsdale and Martin Odegaard will be assessed on Saturday.
"Ramsdale and Odegaard have been assessed and we will see more tomorrow. Hopefully they'll be available to train with the team," Arteta said in Friday's press conference.
"Alex [Zinchenko] missed two games and has not been able to train with team yet. For Mo [Elneny], we are talking months.
"With Thomas [Partey], we are hopefully talking weeks and even shorter than that. We have tried to manage him. A lot has happened since he's joined.
"We are trying the possible way to find reasons for that. Unfortunately, his body and mind are too difficult to try to put finger on to identify one factor. Attitude is there. He's really disappointed and wants to get back."
Arsenal attempted to make a late move to sign Douglas Luiz from Aston Villa but were unable to thrash out a deadline day deal, with Arteta admitting he may look towards the academy for players to make the jump.
"We had to react. We tried, but we have to bring in the right player for the team and for the club but didn't manage to do that," he added.
"It's the team we have. For me, it's the best squad and team I have available. There is nothing else we can do. We have an academy as well that we have to use, and we will try to do that the best possible way."
Arsenal don't need a 'reset' despite poor form, says Arteta
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta does not think that the club need a "reset", despite having failed to win any of their last three Premier League matches.
The Gunners have taken just one point from matches against Bournemouth, Liverpool and Newcastle, leaving them fifth and seven points behind Arne Slot's side at the summit.
They were also beaten 1-0 by Inter in the Champions League in midweek, meaning it is back-to-back defeats in all competitions and just two wins in six.
But despite their ropey form, Arteta wasn't willing to press the panic button.
"I don't think about [needing a reset]," he told a press conference. "Nobody works harder than me, I guarantee you that.
"We don't need a reset. In one particular aspect we need to go from 95 [effort] to 100. I will not tell you what that is."
Arteta's side travel to Stamford Bridge on Sunday to face Chelsea, who come into the game on the back of an 8-0 thrashing of Noah in the Europa Conference League.
However, the Spaniard will be confident of returning to winning ways against a favoured opponent during his time as a Premier League boss.
Of all managers to face Chelsea at least 10 times in the top-flight, only Kenny Dalglish (77%) has a higher win rate against the Blues than Arteta (60% - W6 D2 L2).
The absence of captain Martin Odegaard has been felt keenly in the Arsenal team, having picked up an injury playing for Norway in the September international break.
He made a stoppage-time cameo against Inter in midweek to return to first-team action and will be in the squad to face Chelsea on Sunday.
Declan Rice, meanwhile, missed the Champions League game through injury and is also a doubt for the trip to Stamford Bridge.
"I have to be very vague on [Rice] because there is no clarity on if he is going to be fit or not for the weekend," said Arteta.
"He hasn't trained yet and it is not clear yet whether he is going to be available."
Al-Riyadh 0-1 Al-Nassr: Mane hands visitors bragging rights
Sadio Mane's first-half strike ensured Al-Nassr maintained their unbeaten start to the Saudi Pro League season with a 1-0 win over rivals Al-Riyadh.
He smartly finished from close range in the 41st minute, with his goal enough to seal the three points and move Al-Nassr up to third in the table.
Al-Nassr's threat grew as the first half went on, with Milan Borjan making a fine double stop to deny Ronaldo and Talisca once again before Mohamed Simakan struck the post on the rebound.
Mane would eventually break the deadlock in the 41st minute though, darting in front of his marker to meet Abdulrahman Ghareeb's low cross and rifle it into the roof of the net.
The Senegalese striker arguably should have doubled his tally before the break, but was denied by Borjan's stretching save when one-on-one with the Canadian.
Talisca should have wrapped up the points in the final three minutes, but he blazed over an empty net from close range, before having a late goal disallowed for offside.
Data Debrief: Derby delight for Al-Nassr
After drawing their last two matches, this win was a welcome result for Al-Nassr as they racked up their sixth victory of the season to close the gap at the top of the table to six points.
It is just the second time Al-Nassr have avoided defeat in their first 10 matches of a Pro League campaign, last doing so in 2013-14, when they won the league title.
They are now unbeaten in their last seven Pro League derbies (W4 D3), their longest such streak since a run of nine between 2018 and 2020.
This is the first time in eight such games that they have kept a clean sheet though, and limited their opponents to just five shots throughout.
Al-Hilal 3-1 Al-Ettifaq: Champions return to the summit with dominant win
Al-Hilal surged back to the Saudi Pro League summit with a convincing 3-1 triumph over 10-man Al-Ettifaq on Friday.
The defending champions are now one point clear of Al-Ittihad in the standings, with their latest victory piling more misery on Al-Ettifaq boss, Steven Gerrard.
Al-Hilal struggled in the early exchanges at the Kingdom Arena, registering their first effort on Marek Rodak's goal in the 38th minute courtesy of Marcos Leonardo.
But the hosts would take the lead in the second minute of first-half stoppage time, with Mitrovic on hand to steer Renan Lodi's delivery into the net from close range.
Al-Hilal then doubled their advantage nine minutes from time when Malcolm collected the ball from Abdullah Al Hamddan, before rounding Rodak and finishing into an empty net.
However, hopes of a comeback from the visitors were revived in second-half stoppage time when Joao Cancelo gave away a penalty after a handball inside the box.
Vitinho stepped up and fired home the spot-kick, but Al-Hilal confirmed the win two minutes later through Mohammed Al Qahtani, with visiting forward Abdullah Radif shown a late red card for violent conduct.
Data Debrief: Happy Friday!
Al-Hilal continued their quest for a 20th Saudi Pro League crown with a dominant display against Al-Ettifaq, extending their unbeaten run against their opponents in the process.
They have now not lost their last 13 league encounters against Al-Ettifaq (W12 D1), surpassing their longest unbeaten streak against them in the competition (12 matches between 2008 and 2013 - W8 D4).
Al-Hilal have now lost only three matches when hosting teams on a Friday in the Pro League out of 55 matches (W46 D6 L3).
Lodi also took his goal contribution tally to eight this season in all competitions (three goals, five assists). During his European career with three different clubs, he only notched more goal involvements (nine) in the 2021-22 campaign with Atletico Madrid.
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