Arsenal return to Premier League action this afternoon to take on Ipswich Town at Portman Road.
After their midweek triumph at the Santiago Bernabeu, the Gunners head to Portman Road where Kieran McKenna’s side looked destined for relegation despite their recent victory at Bournemouth and a draw at Chelsea last time out.
While Mikel Arteta has not yet thrown the towel in in the fight for the Premier League title, the Champions League is now their primary focus after dumping Real Madrid out of the competition midweek.
Huge ties against Paris Saint-Germain for a place in the final now await with those games taking place on 29 April and 7 May respectively, either side of a home game against Bournemouth
Arteta will be eager to keep his side fresh and injury free but there is still work to do in the Premier League despite the title almost being in Liverpool’s grasp.
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Just four points separate the Gunners and third place Newcastle United with Nottingham Forest, Manchester City, Chelsea and Aston Villa still in touching distance.
Arsenal remain without some key figures for the season run-in with Gabriel Magalhaes recently joining Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus and Takehiro Tomiyasu in being sidelined for the rest of the campaign.
Riccardo Calafiori and his international teammate Jorginho are also still working their way back to full fitness, but Arteta confirmed that both will not play a part in today’s clash.
‘Jorginho is not going to be available yet, he’s still struggling with that incident,’ Arteta said in Friday’s pre-match press conference.
‘And Riccardo as well probably is not going to be available.’
The club are still managing Bukayo Saka’s minutes after his three-month absence, coming off after 77 minutes on Wednesday night.
While fans will be eager to see the England international wrapped in cotton wool, next week’s clash against Crystal Palace could be the more likely option to rest him.
How Arsenal are continuing to monitor Bukayo Saka
‘Once they get him out there and he has played his first game or two, there will be a two-to-three month period where they are paying very special attention to him across a number of different data points and metrics that will help Arsenal understand how he is transitioning back into normal performance management compared to an individual programme. So there’s lots to do still.
‘Every time he plays they [Arsenal’s medical staff] will be straight back at it at the training ground, testing his hamstring muscle strength, testing his biomechanics, testing his muscular endurance. They will be looking at getting him that exposure [back to first team football], getting back to the training centre to see how he responds.
Stephen Smith, Kitman Labs Founder and CEO, was speaking exclusively to Metro.
Kitman Labs is the world’s leading performance intelligence and technology company, specialising in injury welfare and performance analytics working with the Premier League.**
After the visit of Palace on Wednesday 23 April, Arsenal will have six days to rest up before the visit of PSG.
Thomas Partey will miss that first leg meeting through suspension so will be expected to feature prominently in games against Ipswich and Palace.
Predicted Arsenal XI to face Ipswich
Raya, White, Saliba, Kiwior, Tierney, Zinchenko, Partey, Rice, Nwaneri, Trossard, Martinelli
Where to watch Ipswich vs Arsenal? Kick-off time and TV channel
Ipswich vs Arsenal kicks off today at 2pm.
The match will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League with live streaming available through the Sky Go app and NOW TV for subscribers.
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