Arteta has confirmed that three of Arsenal’s stars will miss the game against Newcastle

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has ruled out three players for Saturday’s Premier League trip to Newcastle United.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Riccardo Calafiori, Martin Odegaard and Takehiro Tomiyasu will miss Saturday’s Premier League clash against Newcastle United. However, there is good news for Gabriel Magalhaes, who is expected to be available as a starter.

Calafiori, signed by Arteta for £42m in the summer, missed his third successive game with an injury in Arsenal’s Champions League clash with Shakhtar Donetsk.

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard will also miss out as he recovers from an injury sustained during an international match in September, despite hopes of a comeback.

Fortunately, Gabriel Magalhaes, who was ruled out of last week’s 2-2 draw with Liverpool, could feature in the next match. Although Gabriel missed Arsenal’s Carabao Cup win against Preston but Arteta said he would join the team after successfully completing his final training session.

“Good news about Gabriel.” confirmed Arteta. “If he can train, he will be included in the starting XI.”

Arteta also highlighted on the status of other players, confirming that Calafiori and Odegaard are still out while Ben White remains a doubt after missing training.

“Ricci and Martin are still not ready,” Arteta said. “We don’t know about Ben yet. He couldn’t train. “We’ll see what happens.”

Commenting on Odegaard’s progress, Arteta said the captain is back and working with the team.

“With the work he’s put in, I would be surprised if when he’s back training with us we don’t say he’s ready.”

Arsenal have made a strong start to the Premier League campaign and are currently third, five points behind Manchester City. Despite recent challenges, Arteta is confident as the team head to St James’ Park.

“You want to be number one.” He reflected on Arsenal’s ambitions. “We know this is a difficult challenge and we are up for it.”