Arsenal are sweating on the fitness of captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang ahead of their Boxing Day Premier League clash with London rivals Chelsea.
The forward has missed the last two games with a calf injury and boss Mikel Arteta will be keen to have him back as the Gunners look to address their poor run of form, which has landed them 15th in the table having gone seven league games without a win since beating Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford on November 1.
'Auba is working hard with our medical team in order to regain full fitness as soon as possible,' Arsenal's update read.
'[He] has now joined outside drills and will continue to be assessed regarding availability ahead of Saturday.'
Thomas Partey (thigh) will miss out again after sustaining the injury in the 2-0 defeat to Tottenham earlier this month, with the Gunners' official website stating: 'Thomas is currently unavailable, but is progressing well to now working outside on close ball work, together with the continued focus on his overall fitness rehabilitation.'
Fellow midfielder Granit Xhaka is available having served a three-match ban and Gabriel Martinelli is likely to be fit after limping off against Manchester City on Tuesday.
Chelsea will hand late fitness tests to full-backs Ben Chilwell and Reece James ahead of the Emirates Stadium encounter.
Chilwell has an ankle issue and James a knee problem, and the England stars could miss both the Arsenal clash and Monday's Stamford Bridge meeting with Aston Villa.
Hakim Ziyech is also still sidelined with a hamstring injury, but is closing in on a return to action.
Arsenal's provisional squad: Bernd Leno, Runar Runarsson, Hector Bellerin, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Calum Chambers, Gabriel, David Luiz, Pablo Mari, Shkodran Mustafi, Sead Kolasinac, Kieran Tierney, Bukayo Saka, Dani Ceballos, Joe Willock, Mohamed Elneny, Granit Xhaka, Reiss Nelson, Emile Smith Rowe, Willian, Nicolas Pepe, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette, Gabriel Martinelli, Eddie Nketiah, Folarin Balogun.
Chelsea's provisional squad: Edouard Mendy, Willy Caballero, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen, Fikayo Tomori,Kurt Zouma, Thiago Silva, Ben Chilwell, Reece James, Cesar Azpilicueta, Emerson Palmieri, Marcos Alonso, Jorginho, N'Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic, Billy Gilmour, Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Tino Anjorin, Christian Pulisic, Tammy Abraham, Timo Werner, Olivier Giroud.
Starlet⚽️
911
Someone getting boxed out on Boxing Day
Nesaiknruy_Legend
498
So you're telling me that Arsenal are missing both Aubameyang and Partey? Watch them beat us now or draw 🤦🏽♂️🤦🏽♂️🤦🏽♂️. I hope this isnt another one of our charity games where we see a team in trouble and give them the points. I know I sound pessimistic but I've sat through games like Valencia when they had stadium protests or Sheffield where they had like 10 losses and McGoldrick hadn't scored in like 30 games before playing us. So for me I prefer that we face an Arsenal on the high with everyone there than a underdog Arsenal with nothing to lose. Maybe I'm overthinking it but these scenarios give me chills. Logic says we should go and slap them 4-0. But my heart says we will win but maybe a 2-1 or 3-1 win at best.