Arsene Wenger has confirmed that the club will receive a major boost at the back due to the return of defender Kieran Gibbs.
The England international has been out for the last few days in training. His last match was against Bournemouth in which the club managed to secure a 2-0 win against the surprise newcomers. The win helped restore Arsenal’s bid to win the league title for the first time since 2004. Leicester City, Arsenal, and Manchester City are now realistically seen as the title contenders. After Manchester City succumbed to a 2-1 loss against the gunners last week, Arsenal went ahead and lost to Southampton to even things up.
Hence, there was a need of three points against Bournemouth in order to confirm the ascendancy once again.
Arsenal are now back to the top of the table – at least on goal difference – following this win. There was a danger of the club being without Gibbs for the upcoming home game against Newcastle United. However, the manager has confirmed that the 26-year-old has recovered sufficiently from his niggling injury. Gibbs, though, has not been a first-team regular for Arsenal this season. He has made only two league starts and is widely expected to be on the bench for the game against Newcastle.
“We will make a decision on Saturday on Koscielny and Walcott, they could both make the squad. Gibbs is available again for the weekend.At the moment on Alexis, Santi and Mikel, we don’t know how long they will be out for,” said Wenger. Still, the return of Gibbs provides the Frenchman with an opportunity to rotate the squad if necessary. Arsenal have had a long list of games in the last few weeks. Freshening up the team will not do any harm at this stage in the season.