Arsenal lineup for North London Derby without Declan Rice and Riccardo Calafiori

The Arsenal stars representing their nations will return to north London in the coming days as Mikel Arteta ramps up preparations for the first North London Derby of the season.

The Gunners boss is currently working with the likes of Ben White, Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard as other first team members of the squad are on international duty. Many will return in the coming days, however, and sessions will mostly involve preparing the team for the clash against Tottenham on Sunday afternoon.

One player who will definitely miss the clash is Declan Rice. The former West Ham United captain was sent off against Brighton & Hove Albion before the international break, controversially being shown a second yellow card in the second half for kicking the ball away from Joel Veltman as the defender went to take a quick free kick.

Another player who could now also miss the North London Derby is Riccardo Calafiori. The defender hobbled off while playing for Italy against France on Friday and subsequently left the camp. The 22-year-old is set to be assessed by Arsenal’s medical staff and it remains to be seen if he will be fit in time for the weekend.

Rice’s absence is obviously a huge blow, with the 25-year-old making a real impact on the side since his £100million move to Arsenal from West Ham last summer. Calafiori is yet to start for the Gunners since making the move from Bologna, although he has been brought on in the previous two games. A start was most likely just around the corner, although the Italian’s latest setback could now impact those plans.

David Raya is quite clearly the Arsenal No.1 following Aaron Ramsdale’s deadline day move to Southampton. Neto, signed from Bournemouth on a season-long loan, will be named on the bench as he experiences a matchday as a Gunners player for the first time.

Ben White, William Saliba and Gabriel are nailed on to start on Sunday as long as no unexpected fitness issues crop up between now and then. Arteta has a few options to play at left-back, however. Oleksandr Zinchenko started Arsenal’s opening fixture of the campaign against Wolves, while Jurrien Timber was given the nod from the start in the games against Aston Villa and Brighton. You also have Jakub Kiwior who perhaps offers more defensive cover than the aforementioned duo, although the Poland international is yet to feature this season.

If Calafiori is not deemed fit enough to start or make the bench, Arteta may choose to start Timber once again. The Dutchman will need to be at his best as he could be up against any one of Dejan Kulusevski, Brennan Johnson or Wilson Odobert.

Into the midfield and Martin Odegaard will captain the side. Thomas Partey is also likely to start given he has started all three of the Gunners games so far. Deciding who to play instead of the suspended Rice is the big one.

With new signing Mikel Merino injured, Jorginho is perhaps the obvious replacement. The Italian is yet to play a minute this season but has plenty of experience and would probably do a decent job if he was thrown straight in. Arteta may be tempted to play Kai Havertz in one of the No.8 roles, given the German has started the season strongly. Of course that would mean Havertz does not play as a striker against Tottenham but Arteta has previously spoken about Havertz’s talents as a midfielder and it could prove to be a decent one-week fix.

Moving forward and Bukayo Saka will start on the right wing. On the left wing Arteta may opt for the pace of Gabriel Martinelli to try and exploit the space in-behind Pedro Porro given the right-back likes to invert. Leandro Trossard and new signing Raheem Sterling are decent options though.

With Havertz predicted to play in midfield, Arteta will need to pick a new striker and again Trossard and Sterling could be called upon for this role. Gabriel Jesus is said to be progressing well after picking up a groin injury last month and the Brazilian could be fit enough to make his return against Spurs. If so, it could be perfect timing for Arteta as Jesus has plenty of experience in these big games.

Possible Arsenal lineup against Tottenham: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber; Partey, Odegaard, Havertz; Saka, Martinelli, Jesus.