Partey, Chambers and Gabriel: Arsenal injury news and return dates ahead of Leeds trip

Arsenal are back in Premier League action on Sunday, but manager Mikel Arteta has a number of injury and fitness concerns to contend with.

The Gunners will make the trip to Elland Road to lock horns with newly-promoted Leeds United as they aim to put their most recent defeat to Aston Villa behind them.

After a brilliant 1-0 away win over Manchester United on November 1, there were high hopes within the Arsenal camp that the club could head into the latest international break with another three points to their name.

However, they were blown away by a rampant Aston Villa side who ran out 3-0 winners at the Emirates Stadium, courtesy of an Ollie Watkins brace and an own-goal from Bukayo Saka.

It was not the way that Mikel Arteta - the Gunners boss - would have hoped to have headed into the third international break of the season. On the flip side of things, though, the break could have come at the ideal time for the Gunners chief to take stock of the situation and carefully plan for the trip to Leeds.

Ahead of the trip north, Arteta does have a few injury and illness troubles to contend with, meaning he may be forced to wait as long as possible before deciding on his starting line-up.

With that in mind, here is a round-up of the very latest Arsenal injury news and expected return dates ahead of the trip to Elland Road.

Sead Kolasinac

Gunners left-back Kolasinac will be forced to miss the tussle with Leeds after returning a positive Covid-19 test whilst on international duty with Bosnia.

It was confirmed on Wednesday morning that the defender had tested positive for the virus, meaning he will miss Bosnia's tussle with Italy on Wednesday night.

That, of course, means that he will also be absent for the trip to Elland Road, as well as the tussle with Molde in the Europa League next week.

Mohamed Elneny

Egyptian midfield enforcer Elneny will also miss the clash at Elland Road after testing posotive for Covid-19 whilst on international duty with Egypt.

A statement released by the Egyptian FA on Monday evening said Elneny was asymptomatic, but the midfielder would now need to self-isolate.

That means he could also miss the Europa League clash against Molde next week but could return for Arsenal's home tussle with Wolverhampton Wanderers on November 29.

In-form Elneny, 28, has been enjoying arguably his best spell at Arsenal under Arteta this term, meaning his absence could be greatly missed by the Gunners boss.

Thomas Partey

With Arteta already a midfielder short for the clash with Marcelo Bielsa's Whites, the Spaniard will be desperate to have summer signing Partey available for selection.

The 27-year-old, who was signed for £45million from Atletico Madrid in the summer transfer window, came off against Villa with a thigh problem.

That resulted in the midfield enforcer being unable to meet up with the Ghana squad over the course of the international break, meaning he stayed at London Colney to try and get himself in the best possible shape for the clash with Leeds.

However, it is not yet known whether the tough-tackling midfielder will be available for selection against the Whites, with Arsenal not having yet issued an update on his condition.

Arteta is scheduled to face the media later this week and will almost certainly provide an update on the summer recruit's fitness.

Calum Chambers

Chambers suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament of his left knee against Chelsea almost a year ago and has been absent from the first-team fold ever since.

But the 25-year-old is on his way back to full fitness after starting for Arsenal Under-21s in their Papa John's Trophy's clash against Gillingham last Tuesday evening.

Though he has climbed another step on the ladder in the direction of recovery, he still has some way to go before he can consider himself fully fit and first-team ready.

Pablo Mari

Another defender who has been through the wars of late is Spanish centre-back Mari.

The 27-year-old sustained a significant sprain to his ankle ligaments in the first game back after the first national lockdown back in June.

The centre-back is continuing his outside running and strengthening programme, along with light ball work.

The club had set themselves the aim of getting him back into training once this current international break was over.

However, Sunday's clash with Leeds may come to soon for him, meaning he may be in line to make the squad against Molde next week.

Reiss Nelson

The speedy winger was forced to miss the Gunners' last two matches due to a knee problem.

However, he has recently made a return to full training, offering Arteta another option for the trip to Elland Road.

But whether or not he will make the match-day squad remains to be seen.

Gabriel Martinelli

Talented 19-year-old Martinelli has been sidelined since late-June when he suffered a left knee injury during a training session.

According to the Gunners, Martinelli underwent successful surgery ahead of hopefully stepping-up his return to action before the end of 2020.

Arsenal have confirmed that he has been running outside, alongside doing a daily strengthening and recovery programme at their London Colney training ground.

Arsenal say he has been involved in group sessions and is aiming to return to full training by next month.

"I’m feeling very well, I’m regaining confidence and I can feel my knee is better,” he previously told the Arsenal website.

"After an injury like this you are kind of scared to force the knee again but the past couple of weeks it has been fine and soon I can start training with the ball."