Per Mertesacker will miss Arsenal’s Champions League opener with Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday – but the defender could return for Saturday’s London derby with Chelsea.
The 30-year-old has missed Arsenal’s last three matches against Liverpool, Newcastle and Stoke City with a virus and is not yet ready to make his return to action.
Mertesacker, however, trained with the rest of the first-team squad on Tuesday and Sky sources understand he could feature for Arsenal in their clash with Premier League champions Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Arsenal have not conceded a goal in the absence of the Germany World Cup winner and manager Arsene Wenger is likely to continue with the central defensive pairing of Gabriel Paulista and Laurent Koscielny for the clash with Zagreb in Croatia.
Mertesacker has featured three times for Arsenal this season, including the 1-0 Community Shield victory over Chelsea at Wembley last month.
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