Arsenal Receives Major Injury Boost as Granit Xhaka Joins Squad Ahead of Clash with Man City

Ahead of their match against Manchester City, Granit Xhaka was seen arriving at Arsenal's hotel.

Arsenal is set to take on Pep Guardiola's team on Wednesday evening in a match that is expected to be crucial in determining the outcome of the title race.

Arsenal has not won a match at the Etihad since 2015, when Santi Cazorla and Olivier Giroud scored in a 2-0 victory.

Nevertheless, Mikel Arteta is well aware that failing to secure three points against City could result in the team losing their position to their opponents in the league table.

Despite recent concerns over Granit Xhaka's fitness, the Swiss midfielder's arrival at Arsenal's hotel in Manchester indicates that he may be fit enough to feature in Wednesday's game, which comes as a relief to Mikel Arteta.

Granit Xhaka had missed Arsenal's 3-3 draw with Southampton on Friday due to illness, and Mikel Arteta had mentioned that his condition would be evaluated prior to the team's match against Manchester City.

The 30-year-old's presence was sorely missed at the Emirates, with Fabio Vieira replacing him in midfield.

But in a major boost for supporters, Xhaka was also filmed on Arsenal's pre-match walk in the lead up to Wednesday's huge match-up. While he was joined by both Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus, who were not present in the original footage.

Indeed, journalist Charles Watts reckons Arteta's comments over Xhaka's fitness were merely mind games, and he expects the midfielder to start against City.

“Team news wise Granit Xhaka is there, he is available he has travelled," Watts said on his YouTube channel.

"That is good news because he missed the game against Southampton on Friday with illness.

"Mikel was doing the mind games or whatever you want to call it when saying he’s a doubt yesterday, but the expectation was that he was going to play and he was going to be fine and I’m fully expecting Granit Xhaka to start,” he added.