Report: Arsenal now confident £20m defender and ‘phenomenal’ 26-year-old will be fit to face West Ham tonight

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Arsenal are just hours away from restarting their Premier League campaign when West Ham United visit The Emirates.

The World Cup has presented Mikel Arteta a conundrum up front with Gabriel Jesus picking up a serious injury.

A report from Football London has provided some positive news in other areas of the pitch for the Gunners.

Arteta has had weeks and weeks to think about his starting line-up for this evening’s game.

The manager would have been mulling over his squad while away on a mid-season training camp in Dubai.

It allowed some players to stake their claims to start in a team that Arteta has barely rotated unless forced to this season.

It’s likely to see forward Eddie Nketiah lead the line for the first time in the league this season.

He’s got some fantastic support in the likes of Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard, and has the full support of his teammates.

Arteta also has plenty of think about when it comes to who is going to play in defence today.

There have been a number of injury doubts, but Football London believe Arsenal are confident Oleksandr Zinchenko and Takehiro Tomiyasu are fit to play tonight.

It’s a big boost after Kieran Tierney was rested against Luton last week in case both players were unavailable.

Arsenal confident Zinchenko and Tomiyasu are fit

The report suggests that Arsenal are sure that the pair will both recover from their respective muscle injuries in time.

‘Neither Takehiro Tomiyasu nor Oleksandr Zinchenko took any part in any of the warm up friendlies as they continue to recover from respective muscle issues, but football.london understands Arsenal remain confident they’ll be fit,’ the report states.

Tomiyasu was signed from Bologna for £20m last summer and immediately broke into the team at right-back.

He’s played less minutes this season due to the emergence of Ben White in that position, but his versatility makes him a valuable option.

The ‘phenomenal’ Zinchenko has also been brilliant since arriving at The Emirates.

Injury has meant the Ukrainian has missed a number of matches already, but he slots straight into the team when fit.

Arteta will be glad to have both Zinchenko and Tomiyasu fit today before West Ham visit the club.

He’s going to need as many of his squad available as possible if Arsenal are going to continue their unlikely title challenge.