Arsenal drop early team news hint before Shakhtar Donetsk Champions League clash

Arsenal have hinted that Ben White will be involved in their midweek Champions League match against Shakhtar Donetsk after returning to the starting lineup at Bournemouth.

White, 27, missed the final four matches before the October international break with a muscle issue. The defender played through the problem when replacing Bukayo Saka at half-time of the Manchester City match despite manager Mikel Arteta trying to protect the player by only naming him as a substitute.

Almost a month after that outing, White returned to the starting XI in Dorset and played the full 90 minutes. The right-back will seemingly again feature at the Emirates Stadium this midweek.

Posting on X, formerly Twitter, 24 hours before their match against Shakhtar, the Gunners' official account shared a graphic ahead of the game featuring a photo of White playing in their first European match of the season at Atalanta. He played the entirety of that 0-0 draw in Bergamo, his only appearance in Europe this term after missing the 2-0 home win over Paris Saint-Germain through injury.

There are barely 72 hours between the Bournemouth match finishing and the scheduled kick-off against their upcoming opponents from Ukraine, but it appears that White is one player who will feature in both fixtures. That may be because Jurrien Timber missed the team's final training session before the match on Monday.

Like White, the defender missed the Southampton match before the international break after being withdrawn four days earlier at half-time of the PSG game with a muscular problem. However, while his teammate was back for their trip to the south coast, Timber remained unavailable, and his involvement against Shakhtar is now in doubt.

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Saka was notably absent from open training on Monday. The winger also missed the Bournemouth match because of the hamstring strain he sustained while on international duty with England.