Arsenal made their final preparations at the Emirates before their game against Aston Villa (Getty)
Gabriel Magalhaes and Jakub Kiwior were missing from Arsenal’s final training session before their Premier League clash against Aston Villa on Sunday.
Mikel Arteta’s side dropped to second in the Premier League on Saturday after Manchester City ran out comfortable 5-1 winners over Luton Town at the Etihad Stadium.
Arsenal have the chance to reclaim top spot with a win over Villa but Arteta appears to face two defensive injury headaches for the game against Unai Emery’s side.
Gabriel, who has been nursing an Achilles issue over the last month, missed Arsenal’s training session on Friday and was not seen with his teammates for their final preparations at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
Kiwior, who was replaced at half time in the 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Tuesday evening, was also not among the Arsenal players who took part in Saturday’s session.
Takehiro Tomiyasu was part of the group who trained and could deputise at centre-back in Gabriel’s absence, while Oleksandr Zinchenko, who replaced Kiwior in the draw against Bayern, is also available.
Arsenal can reclaim top spot in the Premier League with a win over Aston Villa on Sunday (Getty)
Declan Rice was criticised after Arsenal’s draw with Bayern Munich on Tuesday (Getty)
Fabio Vieira and Gabriel Martinelli shared a laugh during Saturday’s training session (Getty)
Villa, meanwhile, will be without influential midfielder Douglas Luiz for their trip to Arsenal as he is serving a suspension.
Emery’s side currently sit fourth in the Premier League, level with Tottenham on 60 points but with a superior goal difference.
However, Villa have registered just won win in their last five Premier League games.
Takehiro Tomiyasu has started just five Premier League games for Arsenal this season (Getty)
Thomas Partey is looking to make his fifth start in the Premier League this season (Getty)
Mikel Arteta watched his players train at the Emirates (Getty)
Emery has also dismissed suggestions that he has an advantage having previously managed Arsenal.
‘Not really, I think it’s a different context, different circumstances,’ the Villa manager said.
‘It’s not really something more than playing against them, with the difficultly we are going to face and respecting them.”
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