The overnight Arsenal team news ahead of this afternoon’s game against Liverpool is that a player who has not played for the Gunners since November 8 could be called upon to fill in at centre-back.
According to The Mirror, Arsenal are set to recall right-back Mathieu Debuchy as cover for their trio of missing central defenders.
Per Mertesacker and Gabriel Paulista are both currently injured, while Laurent Koscielny is not yet ready to return to Arsene Wenger’s XI, having been given a prolonged rest following his exertions at Euro 2016 this summer.
Those absentees mean that Arsenal’s options include playing at least one of Calum Chambers, Rob Holding or Nacho Monreal as a centre-half.
Should Debuchy get the nod alongside one of the aforementioned players, it would be the 31-year-old’s first Gunners game in 280 days. His last was a 73-minute outing in a 1-1 draw against Spurs.
Since that North London derby, Debuchy has spent a loan spell in France with Bordeaux, for whom he played nine Ligue 1 matches.