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IS VIKTOR GYOKERES FIT? ARTETA UPDATE AHEAD OF BAYERN SHOWDOWN

Viktor Gyokeres is ruled out for Arsenal's Champions League match vs Bayern Munich. Captain Martin Odegaard is back in training and could feature.

Is Viktor Gyokeres Fit? Arteta Update Ahead Of Bayern Showdown
Arteta Gives Final Gyokeres Status Today

Viktor Gyokeres won't play in Arsenal's Champions League game against Bayern Munich this week.

He had to leave the Burnley game early in November and then missed the Slavia Prague and Sunderland matches.

He was one of several players who were questionable for Sunday's north London derby.

Even though Mikel Arteta was hoping he could play, Gyokeres was left out of the squad. Mikel Merino filled in, and Eberechi Eze scored three goals in a derby that fans won't forget.

Arsenal has another big game coming up as they play Bayern at home on Wednesday. After that, they head to Stamford Bridge to play Chelsea on Sunday.

Gyokeres wasn't seen at training on Tuesday, and Arteta told reporters that he won't be ready for the game against the German champions.

But the Arsenal coach thinks he'll be ready to play against Chelsea this weekend.

'They're both doing well,' Arteta said when asked about Gyokeres and Kai Havertz.

'They'll get scans in the next few days to see if they can play this weekend.'

Martin Odegaard is back in training

In other news, Martin Odegaard is back in training, which is a big boost for Arsenal.

The captain hasn't played since October because of a knee injury and also missed Sunday's derby.

But he was back with his teammates, and Arteta hopes he can play on Wednesday night.

'We're going to meet now to decide about Martin,' Arteta said. 'We think he can be in the squad.'

Kai Havertz injury update

Havertz hasn't played since the first game of the season. He had what was called 'minor' knee surgery.

People thought he'd be back after the November international break, but Germany's coach, Julian Nagelsmann, said that he had a setback and won't be back until the end of the year.

He didn't train on Tuesday, but he and Gyokeres will be checked before the weekend.

OPINION: BUKAYO SAKA SIGNING UNTIL 2031 IS A BIGGER STATEMENT THAN ANY £100M TRANSFER

Forget the summer spending spree; securing Hale End’s finest, Bukayo Saka, is the definitive proof that Arsenal are back on top.

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Bukayo Saka is locked in

Bukayo Saka just signed a new long-term contract with Arsenal, keeping him at the Emirates until 2031. He’s 24 now, and with his old deal running out next season, a new five-year contract locks him in for the long haul.

Since breaking through from Hale End, Arsenal’s legendary academy, Saka has racked up 77 goals in 290 games for the Gunners since his debut in 2018. He’s not just a regular anymore—he’s become one of the most dangerous forwards in Europe. England fans can expect to see him leading the charge at the World Cup this summer, too.

Honestly, nobody really doubted Saka would stay. There’s no official announcement yet, but everything suggests that he will join William Saliba and Gabriel in committing his future to Arsenal this season.

It’s not just Saka, either. Two more academy products, Ethan Nwaneri and Myles-Lewis Skelly, signed new contracts in the past six months. Sporting director Andrea Berta has moved quickly to make sure Arsenal’s brightest talents stick around. The club also went big in the transfer window, dropping £250 million on eight new signings.

Last season, when asked about his future, Saka said, “For me, I want to win, and I want to win wearing this badge. It is pretty clear the fans know how much I love them. I think they love me back. So it is a good relationship, and I am really happy to be here.”

Saka has scored seven goals already this season, and Arsenal are still alive in four competitions. Even though they couldn’t get past Liverpool on Thursday, Arteta’s team have a solid six-point lead over Manchester City as they chase their first league title in 22 years.

Next up: a trip to Portsmouth for the FA Cup, then Chelsea at Stamford Bridge for the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final. The season’s still got plenty of twists left.

GABRIEL MARTINELLI ISSUES EMOTIONAL PUBLIC APOLOGY TO LIVERPOOL’S CONOR BRADLEY

Gabriel Martinelli issues an apology to Conor Bradley after their heated clash. See the reactions from Gary Neville and Roy Keane.

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Bradley faces "serious" knee scan after horrific Arsenal clash

Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli has apologised to Conor Bradley after a heated moment on the pitch. During the match, Martinelli threw the ball at Bradley and tried to pull him off the field, even though Bradley was clearly hurt.

Liverpool’s players were furious right away. They saw something was wrong with Bradley and rushed over, turning the whole thing into a bit of a mess. The referee handed out yellow cards to both Martinelli and Ibrahima Konate. Turns out, Bradley had a nasty-looking knee injury at the end of the match at the Emirates.

On TV, Gary Neville didn’t hold back. “I’m fuming with Martinelli,” he said. “I honestly don’t know how the Liverpool players didn’t just go after him.” Roy Keane agreed. “I didn’t like it at all,” Keane said. “It happened to me once—bad injury, another player standing over me. It’s just not on. Martinelli’s a good lad, but throwing the ball at someone, standing over him, getting a knee in, and trying to force him off…that’s an absolute disgrace. Hopefully, he’ll take a look at it and apologise.”

Martinelli did just that. He posted an apology on Instagram and said he’d already messaged Bradley. “I really didn’t realise he was seriously hurt in that moment,” Martinelli wrote. “I’m deeply sorry for reacting like that. Sending Conor all my best for a quick recovery.”

Liverpool manager Arne Slot didn’t slam Martinelli, though. He figured Martinelli probably thought Bradley was wasting time. “I don’t know Gabriel Martinelli personally, but he seems like a nice guy,” Slot said. “The problem is, there’s so much time-wasting in football these days. In the last moments of a tight game, tempers are high, and players get annoyed, thinking the other team is just trying to run down the clock.”

Slot added, “I’m sure if Martinelli knew how bad the injury was, he’d never have done it. But because of all the diving and time-wasting we’ve seen, it’s easy to jump to conclusions in the heat of the moment. I get why he thought it was just time-wasting and didn’t realise it was Liverpool.”

After all that, Bradley had to leave the stadium on crutches, clearly in pain, with his knee in a brace.

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