With the international break's close now in touching distance, and players en route back to Cobham, attention can finally turn to Chelsea and their clash with Arsenal at the weekend. Mauricio Pochettino's attention will have never left the Gunners, as the Blues look to earn a fourth consecutive win and to prove themselves amidst a difficult run that sees Chelsea take on the likes of Tottenham, Manchester City and Newcastle in the coming weeks in addition to Mikel Arteta's men.

Having finally found some rhythm, the west London side's preparations to take on the Premier League's second place team, level on points with Tottenham who sit top, are set to be brief. Though the likes of Raheem Sterling, Robert Sanchez, Thiago Silva and others have been available for Pochettino to work with.

Two such players who the Blues boss has been able to cast his eye over are Nicolas Jackson and Armando Broja. Both were called up for their nations, Senegal and Albania respectively, but made early returns to Chelsea's training base.

Jackson underwent surgery on a wrist issue he had carried throughout the break, but remains in contention for the clash with Arsenal and has been pictured in training. Chelsea have looked to manage Broja's recovery from his long term injury, having started two matches in a row against Fulham and Burnley ahead of the break.

Albania boss Sylvinho provided an update, he said: "What happened to Broja is very simple, it arose from a serious injury, he had been out for nine months.

"He came back a few weeks ago, he played a few minutes in the first match, the same in the second. Then, one match before coming to us, he played 45 minutes and was replaced due to some physical problems. Normally he had a check-up at Chelsea before coming to us, the checks had gone well.

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"When he came here, he trained, but he still had a bit of concern: we sat down and spoke to the doctor, and we were in constant contact with Chelsea to find out about his injury. It was clear that he wasn’t he could play and together with the club and the player we agreed that he would return to Chelsea and begin his recovery. That’s the whole story."

Broja too has already been pictured in training however, albeit in the gym alongside the likes of Sterling. Hopefully that is an indication that this is simply managing fitness rather than any real issue.

Chelsea have not had much competition in the forward positions in recent times, with Jackson having predominantly taken the role as Broja continued his recovery this term, while multiple coaches found themselves in the position of persisting with Kai Havertz, an opponent on Saturday, during 2022/23. Now Pochettino finds himself deliberating between the two with the pair having scored a goal each in Chelsea's last two matches.

So, who will start against Arsenal? Broja's outing against Burnley suggests he still has some way to go in sustaining an impact with his fitness, while Jackson, while his finishing has not always proved accurate, has regularly proven a handful via his all-round performance.

The former Villarreal forward has only netted three times so far this term, but two strikes have come in his last two appearances. Having already competed with strapping on his wrist, perhaps he can hit the ground running despite the proximity of his recovery.

The difficulty of Chelsea's next fixtures offer little room for building, and while Jackson has brought his own issues with regard to discipline on the pitch, he might provide a more known quantity for Pochettino to rely on against the Gunners.