Arsenal has a huge match against Chelsea that is popping up this weekend, while they want to continue to put pressure on Liverpool at the top of the Premier League.
With the Reds now 15 points free from the Gunners in the title race, it only seems like a formality that the Arne Slot team will lift the Premier League in the coming weeks, but the men of Mikel Arteta can still finish the season strongly.
Arsenal will also like to solidify second place, with Nottingham Forest only one point behind them after their 4-1 win over Ipswich.
Mirror Football has taken a look at some of the greatest arsenal stories and rumors prior to the Big London Derby.
Lewis-skelly call-up 'will inspire young people'
Arsenal left back Myles Lewis-Skelly has been the stories of the season after his rise of the first team and his series of impressive versions under Arteta.
And now his great displays are rewarded with a first call-up of England by coach Thomas Tuchel and Arteta believes that it is a great story that the next generation of young people should inspire.
The Spaniard also revealed how he first thought that the 18-year-old would be a star after seeing him playing against Liverpool in the preseason.
“I was very impressed by him in the United States when, for example, he rose against Liverpool like a sub and he started to compete against those guys in the front line and I had something like:” We have a player here, “” Arteta recalled.
“We are all very, very happy with his call-up because it is a very nice story and a story that gives a lot of hope to many young players and that your career can change dramatically in six or seven months, drastically for the good.
“It's something for people to be inspired. I think it didn't happen because he was lucky. I think he insisted on every chance to happen and the way he did it.”
Arsenal “empty” due to lack of attackers
The Gunners were hit hard by losing Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus to injuries in the second part of the season and it was a crucial factor in the team that fell away in the Liverpool title race.
We saw how much the team struggled without a recognized No. 9 last month in their 1-0 loss against West Ham for a 0-0 draw against Nottingham Forest who effectively ended their challenge.
Arsenal managed to score nine goals in both legs of their Champions League Last-16 draw against PSV, but it is clear that the team had difficult times while trying to play with Mikel Merino as an improvised center Vooruit.
Proponents started in the club because they did not sign a new striker in January, even though they are linked to Ollie Watkins and Benjamin Sesko.
The legend Dwight Yorke of Manchester United believes that the players were “empty” in the front due to their crisis and says that a new attacker would have 'stimulated' the team in the title race.
He said to Casinobeats: “I think it was clear to anyone who looked that Arsenal really had to ratify their team with a big signature of the name, a great personality that comes to the club to really give the place a lift, because that may be enough to get you to continue with those phases.
“I feel that when you look at what happened in the transfer window in Arsenal, that for them it has been so disappointing that even the players are empty. The supporters have now fallen empty. I think it results, and that can be seen in their versions.
“It's a stranger. I just think that Arsenal should have really been on a limb to try to get someone. I looked at Benjamin Sesko and he is also a good player. I think he and Isak are the two players I would have tried to sign to give you a kind of momentum that takes the last phase of the season. “
Arsenal Given Bukayo Saka Return Timeline
Arteta lacks Saka's match-winning skills of Saka seriously after the English star was excluded for a long enchantment with a hamstring problem that required surgery in December.
Saka had scored nine times and helped ten times in all competitions and it is clear that Arsenal has struggled without its quality – although it will not be long before the winger is back on the field.
Arteta has established a route map for Saka to return to the first team and says he will return to the training next week.
Although he will definitely not be available for Chelsea this weekend, he has a much better chance of appearing after the international break – with the quarterfinals of the Champions League against Real Madrid a possibility.
'He will be here [at the Arsenal training ground] Next week, hopefully more with ball at his feet than he had.
“That will mean that he passes and shoot and run the ball and everything. He has already done a lot on the field that works alone. Then we have to arrange it with people around him in a more competitive training session and see how he goes with it.
“He is getting closer, he comes up and makes a very good progress that I would say. So let's see when we start throwing him in with the team, how he reacts and how he can get fit quickly.”
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