Two Arsenal players missing from today’s training, including £150k-a-week star – journalist

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Arsenal are preparing for their trip to PSV Eindhoven for their penultimate Europa League group stage match.

The Gunners have already qualified for the knockout stages, but a win or draw guarantees that they avoid a play-off.

Football London journalist Tom Canton was at training today ahead of their visit to the Netherlands.

Canton noted that Oleksandr Zinchenko and Marquinhos were missing from training today.

They were the only players who weren’t there apart from long-term absentees Mohamed Elneny and Emile Smith Rowe.

Zinchenko not being available isn’t necessarily an issue for tomorrow, but his prolonged absence will worry Arsenal fans.

The £150,000-a-week left-back immediately overtook Kieran Tierney in the pecking order after arriving from Manchester City.

However, he’s now been absent for nearly a month with a calf injury, although Arteta has no reason to risk him tomorrow.

Marquinhos missing training is a shame for the 19-year-old youngster, who has already made his mark in Europe.

The Brazilian scored and set up a goal on his debut against FC Zurich, and has appeared in all-but-one of Arsenal’s Europa League games.

Zinchenko and Marquinhos missing from training

Arteta has made a habit of not rotating his Premier League side, and right now it’s paying off.

Zinchenko missed the match against Brentford with a calf problem last month, before returning for the north London derby.

However, he hasn’t played since, and may have been rushed back too soon for such an important game.

Marquinhos’ absence could offer an opportunity to another of Arsenal’s youngsters to make their mark.

He dropped to the bench last week against PSV, and Reiss Nelson was brought on ahead of him as he returns from injury.

Zinchenko missing training is less surprising but disappointing, but Arsenal fans will hope Marquinhos isn’t absent for long.

Arteta will want to wrap up top spot tomorrow in the group, allowing him to fully rest his senior players against FC Zurich next week.