Mikel Merino with the Arsenal squad for PSG Champions League game
|Arsenal have been handed a huge injury boost ahead of their Champions League game against Paris Saint-Germain tonight, with Spain international midfielder Mikel Merino spotted with the rest of the squad.
The former Real Sociedad star trained with the Gunners squad yesterday and is now expected to be named in the matchday squad for the game later tonight.
Arsenal have been without Merino since he joined in the summer after he got injured in a training session, and having him available against PSG is a much-needed boost.
He is unlikely to start but could get an opportunity to make his debut for the North London club tonight off the bench.
Arsenal are without Martin Odegaard and Ben White, while Oleksandr Zinchenko and Kieran Tierney are also yet to return from their injuries.
Takehiro Tomiyasu also returned to training on Monday but the game against PSG could come too soon for the versatile Japan international defender.
Arsenal are looking for their first win of the group phase of the 2024-25 Champions League campaign after they were held to a goalless draw at Atalanta two weeks ago.
The Gunners will fancy their chances against the French club, who are without their best player this season, Ousmane Dembele, due to disciplinary reasons.
However, the game could be their toughest so far this season given the quality of Luis Enrique and his men.
Arsenal are looking to impress in the Champions League this season after Bayern Munich dumped them out in the quarter-final last season, and they have a squad capable of giving their European rivals a run for their money.
They will face Shakhtar Donetsk, Inter Milan, Sporting Lisbon, AS Monaco, Dinamo Zagreb and Girona in their other games of the league phase of the elite European competition, and a win tonight will boost their chances of finishing higher up the table ahead of the draws for the knockout stages.