Arsenal return to Premier League action with a trip to Elland Road to face Leeds United next weekend, and Mikel Arteta has been putting his players through their paces in training.
The Gunners went into the final international break of 2020 on the back of a disappointing 3-0 loss against Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium – a result that ended a run of three straight wins across all competitions.
Victory over Dean Smith’s side would have moved Arsenal into the top six and level on points with London rivals Chelsea.
However, they missed the chance and will face Leeds United next weekend hoping to avoid a fifth league defeat of the season.
![[FILE] Liverpool’s Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Salah (L) runs with the ball as Arsenal’s Brazilian defender Gabriel closes in during the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium in London. (Photo by Catherine Ivill / POOL / AFP)](https://www.afriupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/000_97B779-scaled-e1703231851386-120x86.jpg "Liverpool host Arsenal in battle for Premier League Christmas No. 1 2")
Before the big Premier League game, Mikel Arteta and his coaching staff have been putting the Gunners players not called up for international duty through their paces during a training session at London Colney this week.
And there has been media footage released to get fans in the mood.
Here’s what we spotted from the video and those training pictures and what it tells us ahead of the game against Leeds United a week on Sunday.
Wonderkids involved
Not every member of Arteta’s senior squad has been present for training at London Colney this week.
Hector Bellerin, Kieran Tierney, Gabriel Magalhaes, Bukayo Saka, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Nicolas Pepe, and Granit Xhaka are away on international duty with their respective nations.
As a result, the Arsenal manager has had to borrow a couple of players from the academy to make up the numbers in training – as well as taking a closer look at the stars of the future.
And one of several Gunners wonderkids involved in Thursday’s session was Nikolaj Moller.
The 18-year-old joined the north London outfit in the summer transfer window from Malmo and standing at 6ft4ins, alongside his technical ability, has drawn comparisons to former Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Other youngsters spotted were Ben Cottrell, Jonathan Dinzeyi, Catalin Cirjan, Joel Lopez, and Tim Akinola.
Dani Ceballos’ new role?
With Aubameyang away on international duty, a clean-shaven Dani Ceballos auditioned to be Arsenal’s new penalty taker.
Or at least be in the conversation the next time the Gunners are awarded a spot-kick.
Now, Ceballos has taken one penalty for Arsenal – and he missed it. That was in the shootout loss against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup last season.
With that said, it would appear that the Spaniard has regained his confidence from 12 yards.
He was successful from the spot during training this week and appears to have taken a leaf out of Jorginho and Bruno Fernandes’ book in regards to technique.
As spotted in a behind the scenes of Arsenal’s training session video uploaded to YouTube, at around the 5.14-minute mark, Ceballos uses the hop, skip and jump technique before finding the net.
Injury boost
Reiss Nelson was spotted back in full training this week.
The 20-year-old missed the win over Molde in the Europa League as well as the 3-0 home loss against Aston Villa with a minor knee problem.
But in an update posted on the club website last week, Nelson wasn’t expected to be out of action for too long.
“Right knee,” a statement reads . “Sustained knock and bruising to right knee in training ahead of Thursday’s match against Molde. Aiming to return to full training next week.”
And in a huge boost to Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta as he looks to find the right balance in attack, Nelson has been in full training ahead of the game against Leeds.
In addition, the winger looked sharp as he aims to earn a spot in a Premier League matchday squad for the first time this season.
Ozil assisting again
Throughout the pre-Aston Villa training session, Mesut Ozil was at his creative best.
He claimed assists for Hector Bellerin and William Saliba, and also had one chalked off after Calum Chambers was adjudged to have been in an offside position before putting the ball in the back of the net.
And the playmaker has continued in this rich vein of form in training this week.
Having teed up Nelson for a goal earlier in the session, Ozil did the same for Willian who made no mistake from close range.
With that said, Ozil’s assists aren’t of any use to Arteta at the moment as he didn’t include the playmaker in his Premier League squad
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