Arsenal team news: Unai Emery says Mesut Ozil is available to start against Leicester City
Ozil missed Arsenal's 5-1 thumping of Fulham a fortnight ago after suffering a back spasm
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Your support makes all the difference.Mesut Ozil returned to full training over the international break, after missing Arsenal’s 5-1 thumping over Fulham due to a back spasm, and will be available for selection when the Gunners welcome Leicester to The Emirates on Monday.
Emery commended the German’s commitment yesterday after Arsene Wenger suggested that retiring from international duty may have dented the player's motivation.
“We need every player with a very big motivation every day in training and to continue improving and to continue helping us with his quality," Emery said. "It’s the same with Mesut. The motivation is very important for us. We want to find this motivation every day from every player.”
Danny Welbeck is also set to be included in the squad after being forced to withdraw from the England squad with a hamstring issue but there are still some lingering doubts over Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after the forward returned early from international duty with Gabon. However, the striker did play 45 minutes for Arsenal’s U23 side on Thursday.
Unai Emery stated that Greek centre-back Sokratis Papastathopoulos is still struggling with an ankle injury and will not be available and Petr Cech has recovered from the hamstring injury which forced him out the last few weeks but still needs last minute scans to determine whether Bernd Leno will get his third Premier League start.
Provisional squad: Leno, Cech, Martinez, Bellerin, Lichtsteiner, Holding, Mustafi, Sokratis, Monreal, Kolasinac, Maitland-Niles, Xhaka, Elneny, Torreira, Guendouzi, Ramsey, Smith Rowe, Iwobi, Mkhitaryan, Ozil, Welbeck, Lacazette, Aubameyang.
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