Arsenal’s preparations for their Champions League clash at RC Lens have been severely disrupted by a five-hour delay at Luton Airport.
The Gunners were due to fly to Lille at just before 5pm on Monday afternoon, with Mikel Arteta’s pre-match press conference at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis due to be held two hours later.
But bad weather at Luton Airport prevented Arsenal from departing on time, resulting in a five-hour delay for the players and coaching staff, and they eventually landed in France at 10:40pm local time.
Arsenal are looking to build on the convincing 4-0 win over PSV Eindhoven at the Emirates Stadium, which marked the club’s return to the Champions League after a six-year absence. Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard were on the scoresheet, with the game out of sight of the Dutch giants by half-time.
Arteta‘s side are also unbeaten in the Premier League through seven games, winning five and drawing two, and have high hopes of topping a Champions League group that also contains serial Europa League winners Sevilla.
In addition to the travel chaos, Arsenal are also contending with a number of injuries to some of their most important players. Jurrien Timber is out long-term with an ACL tear, while Thomas Partey and Gabriel Martinelli have been struggling with groin and hamstring injuries.
Both could play a part of the game against Lens, who finished a surprise second in Ligue 1 last season but are down in a lowly 15th this time around, with Arteta saying of Partey’s potential involvement: “He’s progressed really well in the last two weeks and he managed to train in the last two or three days with the team and that’s great news for us obviously.
“I think his progression in the last week has been very good. He might have some exposure tomorrow depending how the game goes.
“He’s a big player and we know what he brings to the team. He knows exactly what we need and with the injuries we had to other players in midfield and at the back he complements us in a great way and gives us options. So it’s great to have him back again.”
Partey hasn’t played for Arsenal since the 2-2 draw with Fulham on August 26, though his absence has compensated for by Declan Rice in the heart of midfield – West Ham’s former captain has impressed greatly following his £105m move earlier this summer.
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