Arsenal will soon add four players to strongest starting XI ahead of Newcastle and Inter

Mikel Arteta was optimistic about his side's fitness ahead of the game against Newcastle United. The Arsenal manager was able to give hope to supporters that two key players would be in the running for a return.

The Spaniard has been suffering with his team's status, with the Gunners having dropped five points in two games against Bournemouth and Liverpool. The hope is they can get back to winning ways against Newcastle this weekend, and the return of a number of stars will certainly help.

Gabriel Magalhaes went off injured against Liverpool. It was thought to be a knee injury which Arteta described ahead of the midweek win over Preston as a minor issue and had given optimism he would return soon.

That turned out to be true as Arteta confirmed that should the Brazilian train on Friday he would be available for the weekend. William Saliba also returns to action in the Premier League after serving his suspension against Liverpool.

The pair will reunite their staunch defensive partnership that was broken when the Frenchman was sent off against Bournemouth. In his absence, four goals were conceded, highlighting his necessity.

Ben White is also in contention for the game having suffered with what was confirmed to be a joint issue. However, it appeared to be less certain that he might make the trip to the northeast.

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"With Ben we don’t know yet," Arteta said. "He hasn't trained yet. He could not train and he could not get involved. Let's wait and see if he's available or not."

When White does return, with Saliba it means the Arsenal back four will be at full strength again and with a Champions League match in Milan next week, it could not come at a better time. In his absence however, there are several alternative options.

The fourth player who could yet return to the strongest Arsenal eleven is Martin Odegaard. Missing since the September international break, Arteta confirmed while out for Newcastle, he didn’t rule out the possibility of making it against the Italian champions.

"Now is the stage when he's going to start to do certain work with us," he said. "Let's see if he deals with pain if physically he's able to compete.

"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."

Strongest Arsenal XI after returnees: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber; Partey, Rice, Odegaard; Saka, Havertz, Martinelli.

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