Arsenal are set to face Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, in a highly anticipated North London Derby, but they may be without key player Gabriel Martinelli.

The winger was withdrawn In Arsenal’s victory away at Everton last week with a suspected hamstring injury and missed Arsenal’s return to the Champions League on Wednesday.

Given that hamstring injuries usually require a lengthy recovery period, it was initially anticipated that Martinelli would be absent for some time, but Mikel Arteta has refused to rule him out of Sunday’s game.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Arteta claimed that the club will monitor Martinelli, who may be available to face Spurs.

“With Gabi we are still assessing him, so let’s see if he can make the game or not. Thomas [Partey] for sure is out,” he stated.

“The rest we hope are available, yes we still have two training sessions, but there were no big issues in midweek.”

No need to rush Martinelli back

As important as Martinelli is to Arsenal, there is no desperate need to rush him back, potentially ahead of schedule as Arsenal have enough depth to cope with his absence.

Leandro Trossard has now scored twice in his last two games, having netted the winner at Goodison Park, and opened his Champions League account with a well-taken goal against PSV.

Between the Belgian attacker and Reiss Nelson, Arteta has plenty of options at his disposal on the left wing.

Risking further injury to Martinelli, who was described as “frightening” during his excellent campaign last season, is not worth it at this stage, given the fixtures Arsenal have coming up.

Trossard will likely start against Spurs, and given the strong form he is in, he could allow Martinelli to recover fully, ahead of a tough few weeks in which Arsenal will face a Champions League away trip to RC Lens and will welcome Manchester City to the Emirates.

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