Arsenal get fitness boost ahead of North London derby with Spurs

Amid worrying injury news involving Gabriel Magalhaes, one positive update for Arsenal is that Riccardo Calafiori is expected to be fit by this weekend

With Gabriel Magalhaes now a major doubt to face Tottenham Hotspur on November 23rd due to injury, there’s additional concern from supporters over whether Riccardo Calafiori will be fit for the match.

Despite being called up by Italy, Calafiori missed both of their games over the break with a hip injury, returning to Arsenal early. Yet there’s good news on that front, with Fabrizio Romano (via Daily Cannon) reporting that the defender will “100%” be ready for the Spurs game. Arsenal have run their own checks and confirmed there’s no serious injury, so the defender should be fit by the time club football returns this weekend.

Even ignoring Gabriel’s injury, there’s understandably increased scrutiny around Calafiori’s fitness following his debut campaign at the club. The left-back was absent from 24 of Arsenal’s 58 matchday squads in 2024/25, over 40% of the team’s fixtures, and almost all of those absences were fitness-related.

Things have been a lot different this season so far, with Calafiori featuring in all of Arsenal’s 17 matchday squads to start the season, making the starting lineup on 12 occasions.

The Italy international only started 16 club matches in the entirety of the last campaign, so he’s 75% of the way to matching that total already. It would be a shame for injury to strike again after such a positive run.