The first week back after an international break is always important. Not quite season-defining, but an intriguing period nonetheless awaits Arsenal.
On Saturday and for the third consecutive time after an international window this season, the Gunners' first fixture is away from home. Having already beaten Everton and rescued a point from 2-0 down against Chelsea, Mikel Arteta's side go in search of another positive result at Brentford.
With some huge games taking place in the Premier League this weekend and taking form and injuries into consideration, football.london has taken a look at what would be the perfect week for Arsenal heading into the derby at the Gtech Community Stadium.
White and Odegaard recover
It goes without saying that the dream scenario for Arsenal coming out of the latest international break is that all 16 senior players currently at the club who were selected by their respective nations return unscathed and ready to take on the Bees.
Having said that, it's not just those on international duty who will be assessed as Ben White and captain Martin Odegaard both missed the 3-1 win over Burnley almost a fortnight ago because of injury. The hope is both players are fine to return and ideally, this is the game where the latter silences a few critics.
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Jesus bonus
Gabriel Jesus hasn't been seen in an Arsenal shirt for a month now. His last appearance was the 2-1 win over Sevilla in the Champions League as he lit up the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium with a stunning assist for Gabriel Martinelli before scoring an equally impressive goal.
However, he limped off towards the end with a hamstring injury and has sat out subsequent games against Sheffield United, West Ham United, Newcastle United, Sevilla and Burnley. The good news, despite being called up by Brazil, is that he has returned to full training over the past week.
As reported by football.london, last week's World Cup qualifier against Colombia came too soon for Jesus to make his return to action, although he could start against Argentina in the early hours on Wednesday (UK time). If this is the case and he comes through the game injury-free and shakes off any rust, it will be a bonus for Arsenal ahead of the Brentford game.
Man City drop points
The past few days have been dominated by Everton's punishment for breaching Financial Fair Play rules. Last Friday it was announced that the Merseyside outfit had been deducted 10 points - effective immediately - having become the first team to be in breach of the new Profit and Sustainability rules following a review by an independent commission.
Unsurprisingly the punishment has sent shockwaves throughout the English top flight and now many are awaiting the outcome of Manchester City's FFP investigation as it was revealed back in February they had been charged by the Premier League with 115 alleged breaches of the financial rules.
The talk, currently, is the possibility of Man City being deducted at least 10 points if found guilty and this would alter the Premier League table significantly with Arsenal moving up one spot to second and Pep Guardiola's side sliding down to eighth, but the reality is a verdict may not be revealed for a while yet.
Although, the champions could drop points in a more conventional manner on Saturday when they host fellow title challengers Liverpool in the early kick-off. A draw at the Etihad Stadium is the dream result for the Gunners as it would hand them the chance to end the weekend as league leaders on the condition they beat Brentford too.
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