Arsenal have been handed an injury boost ahead of their upcoming Europa League clash against Bodo/Glimt.
Full-back Cedric Soares has now made a full recovery from a recent knock and, after sitting out the north London derby win at the weekend, he is in line to feature against the Norwegian outfit on Thursday night.
Cedric injury latest
In a tweet on Tuesday, football.london journalist Kaya Kaynak stated: “Cedric is fully recovered from the injury that saw him miss last week. #AFC planning to call him up for Bodo. Player is determined to get first mins of the season and get back to the levels he managed in the second half of last season.”
The full-back missed Arsenal’s first Europa League game of the season against FC Zurich last month, as well as their two previous league games against Brentford and Tottenham through injury.
As Kaynak mentioned, the 30-year-old has yet to make an appearance for the Gunners this season, having been an unused substitute in four of their eight league matches.
Arteta will be delighted
This update should be great news for Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, as Cedric’s availability will give him the chance to rest Ben White after the Englishman played in all of the club’s league games out of position at right-back.
Even though the Gunners also have Takehiro Tomiyasu in their squad who can play in the right-back role, having Cedric fit again will be a big boost for the manager and allow him that additional defensive option.
Bearing in mind how only three Arsenal players made more tackles in the defensive third of the pitch in the Premier League last season than the Portugal international (21), this highlights how useful he can be for the team when called upon.
Indeed, having played in four Carabao Cup games for Arsenal last season, this shows just how reliant Arteta is on the 31-year-old to do a job for him and the team outside of the Premier League, which could be the case against Bodo/Glimt on Thursday.
Across those four cup games in 2021/22, Cedric won more tackles (four) than any other Arsenal player, further highlighting his defensive nous and showing why Arteta will be delighted to have him back in contention tomorrow night.
