Calafiori back at Arsenal, hopes to start against Tottenham

Riccardo Calafiori was released early from the Italian squad this week and returned to Arsenal in the hope he could play against Tottenham.

Calafiori was outstanding when Italy beat France. The Gunners play Atalanta in the Champions League midweek before facing champions Manchester City.

Mikel Arteta is already without midfield lynchpin Declan Rice following his sending-off last time out against Brighton and new £32million Mikel Merino is out with a fractured shoulder.

Jorghino has warmed the bench for Arsenal’s first three games this season but with Rice unavailable and Odegaard twisting an ankle in Norway’s international against Austria, he is in contention to play.

Arsenal were already worried about captain Martin Odegaard after he suffered a knock in the Brighton game.

However, he managed to play the full 90 minutes of Norway’s Nations League Cup match against Kazakhstan.

Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney are definitely out with hamstring problems and Jurrien Timber will be assessed on Saturday morning. He also received a knock against Brighton.

Havertz could drop back to replace Odegaard but Arteta is looking at either Trossard or Martinelli playing in behind Havertz with Gabriel Jesus’ groin injury recovery still work in progress but he could make the bench. New on-loan signing Raheem Sterling is also in contention on the left.

Galatasaray are interested in Jorghino after being rejected by Casimiro but his departure is unlikely. The Turkish transfer window is still open for clubs to do business.

Tottenham’s Ange Postecoglou says Dominik Solanke will be ready for Tottenham to face the Gunners and possibly defender Micky van de Ven.

Both Son Heung-Min and Yves Bissouma are in cracking form and pose a threat to Arsenal’s back line if Bissouma recovers from a knock picked up playing for Mali this week.

Both players scored this week for their countries. Watching Tottenham train this week, Timo Werner and James Maddison looked sharp.  However, Werner is more likely to start from the bench.

Postecoglou also has to decide who to start, Rodrigo Bentancur or Pape Sarr. Of course, there is always the option of picking either Lucas Bergvall or Archie Gray. The other question is, should the coach possibly play Dejan Kulusevski through the middle?