Takehiro Tomiyasu hint, no Gabriel - three things spotted in Arsenal training ahead of Aston Villa

Latest Arsenal news with a number of interesting things spotted in their final training session before facing Aston Villa

Mikel Arteta is facing a crucial four days as Arsenal boss, with two potentially season-defining fixtures on the horizon. On Sunday afternoon, the Gunners welcome Aston Villa to Emirates Stadium for a Premier League clash after title rivals Manchester City thumped Luton, and they will also know the outcome of Liverpool vs Crystal Palace before their own weekend fixture.

Following on from the game in north London, Arsenal then travel to Germany for the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich. The score is level at 2-2 from the first outing, which means Arsenal must win in the Allianz Arena to reach the semi-finals.

However, for the last few days, Arteta's priority has been very much preparing for Aston Villa and also managing any issues in his squad. Minimal injuries are currently affecting the Gunners, but some concerns have emerged surrounding Gabriel Magalhaes.

Given the quick turnaround and the magnitude of next Wednesday's clash, rotation is a real possibility, and Takehiro Tomiyasu could be one of those to benefit and make his first start in over four months. With that said, Arsenal, as they often do, have been training at Emirates Stadium and football.london has pulled together some interesting moments spotted from the session.

No Gabriel

After not being seen in team training on Friday, concerns surrounding the availability of Gabriel began to emerge. As expected, Arteta did little to calm those nerves when asked about the Brazil international in a press conference later that day.

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"We’ve got one more day to prepare the match," he said when asked specifically about Gabriel. "We will see tomorrow if everyone is available. We have some but hopefully with another day we’ll be okay." With Gabriel already a slight doubt, worries would have increased upon the latest batch of training photos being released.

Well over 100 photos from the Emirates Stadium session have emerged, and Gabriel cannot be clearly seen in any of them. Given the doubts, it may be a ploy from Arsenal to leave him out of the published photos, or it could just be that he did not take part, and it is likely only at 3:30pm, his availability will be known.

Tomiyasu hint

While Gabriel, William Saliba and Ben White have been constants this season, issues at left-back for Arteta have been prominent. Jurrien Timber began the season in that role with Takehiro Tomiyasu and Oleksandr Zinchenko as his understudies; however, they have all endured injury-riddled campaigns.

As such, Jakub Kiwior has come in over the last few months and done very well; however, Zinchenko has started the last two league games. The Poland international was back in for the Bayern clash, but given the hectic schedule, it could be time for Tomiyasu to get a chance, and some training images perhaps hinted at exactly that.

A number of photos showed players in orange bibs, likely during a small-sided game, and the teams for that training clash can sometimes reflect the starting XI, and in this case, Zinchenko is wearing a bib whereas Tomiyasu is not. Others wearing bibs include Emile Smith Rowe and Fabio Vieira, with it unlikely either of the duo will start on Sunday afternoon.

Nketiah disappointment

Despite Arsenal's injury struggles in attack, Eddie Nketiah has significantly struggled for consistent minutes this season. Gabriel Jesus missing large portions of the campaign has seen Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard used through the middle, while Nketiah has featured for just 54 minutes in the last nine games.

Understandably, that may affect morale, with Nketiah captured walking out for the session looking far from impressed. Of course, it could simply be that the cameras caught him at the wrong time; however, it is unlikely anyone can begrudge him for feeling down, knowing it is unlikely he plays over 15 minutes on the weekend.

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