Mikel Arteta explains Arsenal team selection as two key players return from injury

Mikel Arteta his hopeful his decision to select a full-strength Arsenal side won’t backfire in Saturday’s crucial north London derby.

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The Gunners were sweating on the availability of captain Martin Odegaard, midfield linchpin Thomas Partey and summer signing Oleksandr Zinchenko.

All three, however, were named in the starting XI for the visit of Spurs who themselves have top spot in their sights.

Explaining his team selection, Arteta told BT Sport: ‘We had so much uncertainty in the last few weeks with certain players.

‘We had some internationals where we had bad news but we have managed to recover some players and hopefully they are in the best condition to play.’

More to follow…