Arsenal will be looking to maintain their flawless run as they travel to the Stadium of Light to take on Sunderland on Saturday evening. The Gunners have been in stunning form lately, remaining undefeated across 13 matches while recording eight successive clean sheets.

Mikel Arteta’s squad currently sits six points clear at the top of the Premier League table. After securing a commanding 3-0 triumph over Slavia Prague in the Champions League, the north London club are also level on points in that competition alongside fellow unbeaten teams Bayern Munich and Inter Milan. Arteta recently praised his exceptional squad following the victory in Europe.

He said: “Emotionally, I think we handled it very well. It shows the consistency we have, we dominated the defensive part of the game against a team that is very difficult to play against. Tonight we made four changes from the weekend and they all performed really well. Overall, a really productive evening.”

Here, Express Football brings you all the latest developments emerging from the Emirates Stadium ahead of this weekend’s Premier League fixtures.

Injured star makes comeback

Gabriel Jesus has completed his much-anticipated return to Arsenal training following a 10-month absence through injury.

The forward has been absent from the first-team squad due to an anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained against Manchester United in January. At the time, Jesus had netted six goals in seven matches for the Gunners and was left heartbroken by the setback.

Now, the 28-year-old has returned as his side prepares for the clash against Sunderland. In footage of the training session shared on the club’s social media, one thrilled supporter wrote on X: “Jesus is back for Christmas!”

During his individual training programme while recovering from injury, Jesus dismissed any suggestion of a swift return to the starting eleven. Speaking in October, he said: “My knee is responding well. I’m looking forward to being around the team again soon, to come back to do what I love to do.

“It’s been too long. An injury like this, one that is so long, you split up the recovery periods into smaller timings. So now I’m at the stage where I need to hold myself back a little bit because I’m doing great work outside on the pitches, but it’s tricky because I need to not rush myself too hard over the line.

“When you can see the end, it’s important you don’t push too hard, keep my feet on the floor, and then as soon as the time comes, I will be ready.”

However, the striker could now be moving ever closer to a much-anticipated comeback as he acknowledged supporters’ messages on social media. In a video, Jesus said: “Hello, Gooners. Yeah, it’s me here. Second day out with the boys. So happy and I cannot wait to see you at the Emirates. Take care.”

Arteta is also pleased with Jesus’ steps to return from injury, adding: “Now is about making the steps day by day, in a different surrounding. Now he has competitive players around him, see how he copes with that. He is full of energy. I love the reaction of his team-mates.”

Arsenal youngster axed from England

Myles Lewis-Skelly has been dropped from Thomas Tuchel’s latest England squad after receiving a previous warning regarding a lack of playing time. The promising teenager is among several shock exclusions from the selected group, alongside Morgan Gibbs-White and Ollie Watkins.

Lewis-Skelly featured in the Three Lions’ international setup in October, but manager Tuchel cautioned the 19-year-old at the time that greater effort would be required to maintain his position in the camp.

Speaking last month, the German said: “To just be a good citizen in camp will not be enough over the course of a year. He was a very good player in camp, a very good team-mate in camp. But being a good team-mate in camp may not be good enough to stay the whole year with us.

“You have to perform at club level on a regular basis. In the last camp he got the credit, that I was convinced we have to take care of him and nominate him because we accelerated his career. It was our responsibility after we called him last season. So we stick to this.”

The defender has accumulated merely 86 minutes of playing time for Arsenal this season, with Riccardo Calafiori being favoured ahead of him in the left-back position.

Speaking about his player’s exclusion from the England squad, manager Arteta said: “Yes, for sure. We are here to support and to help each other and give a good perspective of the situation. So don’t look at the one moment of what is happening for you because maybe today it is happening for the right reason.”