Kieran Tierney set to make Arsenal return after 16 months with the Scot slated to make his return against Monaco.
Kieran Tierney is set to feature for Arsenal for the first time in more than 16 months. Mikel Arteta revealed he expected to be without several key defenders for Wednesday’s Champions League meeting with Monaco.
Gabriel Magalhães, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Thomas Partey, and Jurriën Timber did not train with the rest of the team on Tuesday, and Arteta stated that “some of them probably aren’t going to be fit” to play the French team, who have the same record (10 points from five games).
Tierney, who made his final appearance for Arsenal in the Community Shield victory over Manchester City in August 2023 before going on loan to Real Sociedad last season, is expected to play some role at the Emirates. He rejoined the team last month following a hamstring injury he suffered while playing for Scotland at Euro 2024.
“He is ready, he’s training really well and he’s going to have an opportunity for sure,” Arteta said of Tierney. “The way the team is looking at the moment. He is going to do that for that reason and because he’s earned it. The way he’s behaved, the way he’s been with us because he’s willing to do it and when that happens. You have to give those opportunities to players.”
Asked whether he was frustrated there was no chance for his squad to recover given the incessant schedule. Arteta said: “You can see it as well in the league. Certain players that are coming back from injury and getting injured again. They are under a lot of demands at the moment and unless you are out of a cup or something then I don’t see many breaks. We want to win every competition and hopefully we will have that chance and we still have the ability to maintain the level that we want.”
Before making a comeback in last month’s Champions League loss to Inter, Martin Ødegaard missed 12 games this season. Last week, the Arsenal captain became a father for the first time. He reported that he was enjoying his new, more responsible role.
“We have quite a young squad and at the moment I feel like I’m one of the more experienced older guys. That is something new to me but something that I enjoy,” he said. “I feel like I’ve been through a lot and gained a lot of experience on the way. Now I’m just trying to use that in the best possible way to everyone around me … We have a lot of leaders and we are all trying to help each other get better every day.”