Saka, Lacazette, Partey: Arsenal team news and injury updates ahead of West Brom clash

Arsenal travel to West Bromwich Albion tonight as they look to make it three Premier League wins in a row when they take on Sam Allardyce's side.

Boss Mikel Arteta is expected to have a near-fully fit squad, with only a handful of doubts.

One of those is Bukayo Saka, who had to be withdrawn against Brighton after sustaining a heavy challenge.

With that in mind, here is all the very latest on Saka's condition and a round-up of all the very latest Gunners injury news.

Bukayo Saka

Arteta says he is confident that Bukayo Saka will be fit to face West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.

The Gunners winger was forced off in the latter stages of Arsenal's 1-0 win over Brighton at the AMEX Stadium on Tuesday, sparking fears that he could be set for a spell on the sidelines.

But Arteta is hopeful that the 19-year-old will be available for selection as the Gunners travel to the Hawthorns for their first match of 2021.

"I hope he is available we will see today with training or not," Arteta said, during his pre-match press conference on Friday.

"He’s played a lot of minutes as well, and I'm confident that he will be OK for the game."

Gabriel Magalhaes

The Brazilian centre-back, who joined the Gunners from French outfit Lille during the summer, will miss the trip to West Bromwich Albion after being confirmed to have tested positive for Covid-19.

Gabriel missed Saturday's clash with Chelsea after being forced to self-isolate, following the news that someone he had been in close contact with had tested positive for the virus. Now, Gabriel has tested positive himself, meaning he must spend a period of time in self-isolation.

David Luiz

Fellow centre-back Luiz missed the trip to Brighton but is back in contention to play against West Brom, after Arteta confirmed that the defender is back in full training.

"Well, we will see today. Some players had to come in yesterday to get assessed. After the game we had a couple of knocks.

"And then we have the players who have been through all the regulations with COVID, different individuals which I think we’re gonna recover for the game against West Brom.

"But we will see tomorrow who is available, who is fit, and how is everybody feeling."

Thomas Partey

Since limping off in the north London derby against Tottenham Hotspur in the early throws of December, summer signing Partey has not featured.

It is unclear what the exact nature of the injury is but the former Atletico Madrid ace has confirmed that he hopes to be back in action as soon as possible in an attempt to start helping the club get out of the rut it currently finds itself in.

However, Partey has since returned to training at London Colney, suggesting a return to action is edging closer.

It was an individual session and the best bits have been uploaded to the Ghana international's Instagram page.

Partey had an inspirational message from Arsenal fans following his big return to training.

"Recovery sessions," he said. "Work hard to achieve your goals and never give up on your dreams."

Willian

Like Luiz, fellow countryman Willian returned to full team training on Thursday after a period of feeling unwell.

The Brazilian international was not involved against Chelsea or Brighton as a result.

But the winger could make a return for Saturday's trip to West Brom.

Elsewhere, Alexandre Lacazette was left on the bench for the Brighton clash, but came on to score a late winner. The striker is not injured, but Arteta previously revealed that the Frenchman had a sore back.

He said: "He finished the game against Chelsea with some pain (in his back) and we had the opportunity to refresh that and use him in other moments.

"We didn’t know if Auba could last for 90 minutes, we knew Gabi wasn’t going to last 90 minutes for sure so we had a substitution there, someone with a goal threat that we believed was going to be needed.

"We need big players and the senior players to step up in these difficult moments and he’s doing that for sure. Front players need as well their teammates to support them and put them in situations like he had today as often as possible.

"But at the same time they have to step up and create these opportunities themselves. I think Laca is working very hard.

"Since I’ve been here his work has never been an issue. His goalscoring record could improve and but it’s improving because he’s so willing to do it for us also."