Kieran Tierney injury return game announced as Arsenal prepare to welcome back defender

Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup following their 3-0 win over Preston North End. The victory means that Arsenal are just four games from their first major trophy since 2020 when the club won the FA Cup.

In their way is Crystal Palace who have been drawn to face the club at the Emirates Stadium. Mikel Arteta has so far used the Carabao Cup to rotate his squad and give opportunities to some of his fringe players while resting others.

Arsenal have a hectic festive schedule to navigate and there are already question marks about when this game will fit in. It could be that Arsenal have just one or two days rest maximum, and therefore Arteta will need to use his squad wisely.

Thankfully, a number of players are making their way back to fitness including Martin Odegaard, while Riccardo Calafiori should also be back by December to feature too barring any further injury setbacks. However, there is one player many have even forgotten having not played for the club since the 2023 Community Shield.

Kieran Tierney spent last season on loan with Real Sociedad but an injury for Scotland at the European Championships has seen the left-back fail to make an expected transfer away from the club, and instead work solely on recovery. Arteta has been silent on his rehabilitation until he was asked ahead of the game against Preston.

"I think he's quite close," Arteta said. "He's looking really good.

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"I think he's over the period where he was still struggling, so he looks really sharp out there. He hasn't trained with the team yet but hopefully, he can do that in the next week or two."

With Calafiori out and Jurrien Timber also suffering problems alongside Oleksandr Zinchenko and Takehiro Tomiyasu, the left-back role has gone through many changes. Zinchenko and Timber are now back and Tierney returning to the fold will too strengthen the options.

The game with Palace in December could be the perfect time to reintroduce Tierney and get him some valuable minutes before January. The Scottish international will have one year left on his deal in the summer, and so could yet leave in January but might indeed be kept until the campaign's conclusion.

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