Olivier Giroud looks set for his first start of the season when Arsenal take on Ludogorets in the Champions League on Tuesday, while Hector Bellerin was among four players who were left behind for the trip to Bulgaria.
Manager Arsene Wenger said Bellerin, fellow full-back Nacho Monreal, midfielder Santi Cazorla and forward Theo Walcott all stayed home to recover from minor injuries ahead of Sunday’s crucial North London Derby against Tottenham.
Monreal, Cazorla and Walcott also missed Saturday’s win over Sunderland in the Premier League, while Bellerin has played every minute of Arsenal’s Premier League and Champions League campaigns so far.
“Some of them being very close, like Walcott, Bellerin had a little incident in the last minute of training so they are not here,” Wenger said.
Giroud netted a brace against Sunderland after coming on as a substitute, his first league appearance since recovering from a toe injury he suffered in September. That problem came after he needed time to get back to full match fitness following Euro 2016, and the Frenchman has seen Alexis Sanchez shine as a centre-forward in his absence.
However, Wenger brought Giroud to Monday’s news conference in Bulgaria, indicating that he’s likely to start up front.
“I’m pleased to come back now,” Giroud said. “I wasn’t fit enough to play after the Euros and had an annoying injury. …
“In every big club you have a lot of good strikers, with different qualities. We [he and Sanchez] can play together, we can play up front, or on our own. The team is doing very well, from the start of the season.
“I hope to come back and work hard at training. But I’m happy as long as we win. We have a very good team cohesion. I’m not questioning myself too much about my place. I’m focused on the team.”
Asked what he must do to win his place back, the France international added: “As I said before, I just need to play and play more. With training, show I’m in good form.
“That’s what I try and bring to the team. When I came on against Sunderland I tried to raise the team to come back into the game.
“It was 1-1 and we needed the win. Fortunately, I finished well the work of the team. I feel good on the pitch. My injury is now behind me and I want to look forward now and qualify for the next stage of the Champions League.”
Bellerin’s absence could mean Carl Jenkinson will make his second start of the season after making his injury comeback in the EFL Cup last week.
Arsenal beat Ludogorets 6-0 at home in the previous round and should be confident of a victory even without some of their regular starters. The Gunners are top of Group A on goal difference ahead of Paris Saint-Germain, and will need another strong performance to maintain that edge.
“Yes, [winning the group] is our prime target. But we must do it step by step,” Wenger said. “In the last years we have paid the price of being second as we met teams like Barcelona and Bayern Munich in the first knockout stage.
“It is very important for us to win tomorrow otherwise we may find ourselves in difficult situation.”
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