Mikel Arteta makes William Saliba return promise ahead of Arsenal clash with Man City

William Saliba has been confirmed to be ready to return before Arsenal take on Manchester City, but will miss the clash with Dinamo Zagreb.

Mikel Arteta has faced the press ahead of Arsenal’s penultimate Champions League first-phase clash with Dinamo Zagreb. The Gunners could guarantee their place in the last-16 of the competition with a win in north London.

They sit third in the table as things stand, with only Barcelona and Liverpool above them. There are, however, only three points separating Arsenal in third and Club Brugge in an astonishing 19th place.

Arteta will be hoping to have a stronger squad than he has in recent weeks and will have been emboldened by both Riccardo Calafiori and Ethan Nwaneri returning to training. Asked for further updates on the side he could finally give more clarity.

"Very positive news," he said. "We missed them for a few weeks and they returned today for training and they'll be available for the game."

On Saliba, Arteta was asked about whether he could be back for Manchester City and he replied, "Yes, we hope so."

Adding prior: "I think he is evolving well the last few days, but this game comes a little bit too early for him."

Arsenal face Dinamo Zagreb at 20:00 GMT on Wednesday 22 January. football.london will have all the build-up and coverage of the match from four hours before kick-off.