Arsenal will hand late fitness tests to Shkodran Mustafi and Danny Welbeck ahead of Saturday's Premier League visit of north London rivals Tottenham .
Mustafi has been sidelined since the start of October with a hamstring issue, while a groin injury suffered in the 2-1 defeat at Watford has kept Welbeck out for the past month.
Both could be in contention to face Spurs although Olivier Giroud is out after injuring his thigh on international duty with France while Santi Cazorla (ankle) is a long-term absentee.
Meanwhile, Arsene Wenger insists his side are still No1 in north London - and issued a reminder Arsenal have ruled Tottenham for 20 years.
Wenger was particularly spiky about questions over whether Mauricio Pochettino’s men have eclipsed Arsenal after Tottenham finished above their neighbours last season.
When a TV reporter began a question over Arsenal being the dominant team in North London, Wenger quickly chipped in: “For 20 years!”
Then Wenger was asked whether Arsenal would be underdogs. “No, not at all,” he said. “I think Tottenham are a good side but we have the quality to win this game and that’s what we want to show.
“It’s one of the fixtures that is very important for us and that we want to win, basically as well because in the table we have to make some ground up with the top teams.
“At home we have been very strong and our home strength will certainly be vital to decide where we finish at the end of the season.
“The real motivation for me is to do as well as we have the potential in our team to get to the maximum of the potential we have in the team. The target is not to compare to Tottenham.”
Provisional squad: Cech, Ospina, Mertesacker, Holding, Koscielny, Mustafi, Chambers, Monreal, Debuchy, Bellerin, Nelson, Kolasinac, Maitland-Niles, Ramsey, Wilshere, Xhaka, Elneny, Ozil, Walcott, Sanchez, Iwobi, Welbeck, Lacazette, Nketiah.