William Saliba has been ruled out of Arsenal's Premier League meeting with Leeds United with a back injury, but Mikel Arteta is hopeful of having Thomas Partey available.
France international Saliba limped off during Arsenal's Europa League clash with Sporting CP on March 16 and sat out the 4-1 league win over Crystal Palace three days later.
The 22-year-old, who has started 32 of Arsenal's 39 games this season, subsequently pulled out of France's squad for their Euro 2024 qualifiers during the international break.
Arteta had been hopeful Saliba would be available in time for the Gunners' return to action on Saturday, but the centre-back is still not ready.
"He is progressing but still has some discomfort in his back," Arteta said at Friday's pre-match press conference. "He's not going to be fit for this game.
"We're doing everything to get him back feeling better, but he is not ready yet."
There have been suggestions Arsenal could be without Saliba for the majority of their remaining 10 league games, but Arteta does not see that being the case.
"We're very hopeful [he will return soon] and he is as well," Arteta said. "Back injuries are tricky in terms of how they evolve with the load that you put in certain areas.
"Let’s push it and see how he copes with that. He's so willing to be back in the team. We're very positive and pushing it every day, seeing how the pain develops."
Takehiro Tomiyasu also limped off in the Sporting match, which saw Arsenal eliminated from the Europa League, and has since been ruled out for the campaign.
Arsenal had another injury scare in the week, meanwhile, as influential midfielder Partey did not play in Ghana's 1-1 draw with Angola for precautionary reasons.
But the 29-year-old is likely to feature against 14th-place Leeds at Emirates Stadium as Arsenal look to maintain – or indeed extend – their eight-point lead at the summit.
"We're positive about him. Hopefully he'll be back," Arteta said.
Arteta confirmed he otherwise has a fully-fit squad to choose from, with striker Gabriel Jesus now nearing full fitness after recently returning from a long-term lay-off.
"He's close to 100 per cent," Arteta said. "He's taken a big step forward in recent days, creating chaos in training. He's in a really good place."
Arsenal are unbeaten in their last 13 meetings with Leeds in all competitions, winning 11 of those, since a 3-2 loss in May 2003 that ended the Gunners' title bid that season.
The Gunners have won six league games in a row ahead of hosting Leeds to keep Manchester City, who they still have to face away from home, at arm's length.
Rangnick confirms Bayern Munich contact
Ralf Rangnick has confirmed Bayern Munich have been in contact over their soon-to-be vacant coaching position.
Bayern are on the lookout for a new coach, with Thomas Tuchel set to depart at the end of the season.
The Bundesliga giants wanted to appoint Xabi Alonso, but the 42-year-old snubbed their advances, and those of Liverpool, to stay at Bayer Leverkusen.
Bayern's search has now seemingly led them to Rangnick, the former Manchester United interim boss who is now coach of Austria's national team.
Rangnick, though, is paying full attention to Austria's upcoming Euro 2024 campaign.
"There has been contact from the side of Bayern Munich and I have informed the Austrian Football Association," Rangnick said in an interview with 90 Minuten.
"We have a very trusting relationship. My focus is on the Austrian national team. We are focusing completely on the European championships.
"I feel very well here. At the moment there is no reason to intensively deal with this."
Rangnick has plenty of Bundesliga experience, having previously coached Stuttgart, Schalke, Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig.
While Bayern's hopes of securing a 12th Bundesliga title have long since been over, they remain in with a shout of salvaging their season, with a Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid on the horizon.
According to Opta's predictive model, Bayern only have a 37 per cent chance of overcoming Los Blancos, however.
Austria, meanwhile, have been drawn into a Euro 2024 group that also includes Poland, the Netherlands and tournament favourites France.
Rangnick's team will face Les Bleus on June 17, before taking on Poland four days later, and rounding off their group campaign against the Dutch on June 25.
Haaland out of Brighton clash, confirms Man City boss Guardiola
Manchester City will be without Erling Haaland when they take on Brighton, Pep Guardiola has confirmed.
Haaland missed Saturday's FA Cup semi-final victory over Chelsea with a muscular injury he sustained against Real Madrid last week.
And the issue will also see the striker, who has scored 20 Premier League goals this season, miss out against the Seagulls on Thursday.
"Erling is not ready for tomorrow," said Guardiola, who added that City will be able to call on Phil Foden and John Stones.
"It's not a big issue but he's not available."
Haaland has scored, on average, every 109 minutes in the league this season.
However, the Norwegian has actually underperformed his expected goals (xG) of 23.7.
He has also chipped in with five assists, giving him an overall goal contributions tally of 25. Haaland has created 28 goalscoring chances for team-mates across the campaign.
After Arsenal's 5-0 thrashing of Chelsea on Tuesday, reigning Premier League champions Manchester City sit four points off the summit in third place, albeit with two games in hand.
Second-place Liverpool will aim to move level on points with the Gunners by beating Merseyside rivals Everton on Wednesday.
Liverpool line up Feyenoord coach Slot as Klopp replacement
Arne Slot appears to be at the front of the queue to replace Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool manager.
Klopp confirmed in January that he would be leaving the Reds at the end of the season.
Xabi Alonso, who has led Bayer Leverkusen to their first Bundesliga title, was swiftly established as a leading candidate to take the helm at Anfield, where he starred as a player for the Reds between 2004 and 2009.
The 42-year-old, however, is staying put in Germany, and Liverpool's search for Klopp's successor has taken them to Feyenoord's door.
Slot has been previously linked to jobs in the Premier League. Leeds United wanted to appoint him last season before their relegation to the Championship, while he was targeted by Tottenham before they appointed Ange Postecoglou.
The Dutchman intimated when linked with Spurs: "A normal next step would be to go abroad and I've always said that the best league in the world is the Premier League."
Ideally, Liverpool will be aiming for a coach who can come close to replicating Klopp's style of play, and in particular has a flair for working with and developing young players.
Slot has enjoyed fantastic success in Rotterdam. He became Feyenoord head coach in December 2022, after leaving AZ, and went on to win the Eredivisie title in 2022-23, having reached the Europa League final in the previous season.
The 45-year-old has a 64.4 per cent win record from 146 games in charge, winning 94, drawing 29 and losing just 23.
His Feyenoord team have scored 329 goals, an average of 2.2 per match, conceding 147 in return. Slot's points per game is a hugely impressive 2.13.
Feyenoord are, though, set to relinquish their Eredivisie crown, as they trail leaders PSV by nine points. They have, however, won the KNVB Cup this term.
As there is no break clause in the Dutchman's contract, it has been reported that a compensation fee in the region of €10million (£8.5m) could prise him away from Feyenoord.
Sporting CP boss Ruben Amorim is another coach who has been heavily linked with the Liverpool job, albeit he is reportedly in talks with West Ham.
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