"Differential if we need him", "A huge boost" - Arsenal fans react as star man included in squad to face Manchester United

Arsenal fans are expressing their joy on X after Gabriel Martinelli returned from injury to make it to the matchday squad to face Manchester United. The two sides are set to face each other in the Premier League at Old Trafford later today (March 9).

David Raya starts in goal for Arsenal, while Jurrien Timber, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, and Riccardo Calafiori make up the defense. The midfield comprises Thomas Partey, Declan Rice, and Martin Odegaard. Ethan Nwaneri, Leandro Trossard, and Mikel Merino start up front to complete the starting XI.

Gabriel Martinelli has missed the Gunners' last five games across competitions after suffering a hamstring injury against Newcastle United in the EFL Cup last month. His return will be a massive boost for Mikel Arteta and company in attack, with Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus already sidelined due to injury.

The Brazilian winger has netted seven goals and provided four assists in 35 appearances across all competitions this season. He will be hoping to get some minutes under his belt against Manchester United.

One Arsenal fan posted:

"Good to see Martinelli on the bench. Differential if we need him!"

Another fan tweeted:

"Martinelli back is a huge boost. Don't rush him, but that game against Chelsea next week at The Emirates just became a bit more winnable."

Other fans reacted below:

"Martinelli is back. Very timely," one fan commented.

"Martinelli back for a genuine threat off the bench, lovely stuff. With the first leg result we should hopefully be able to rotate a bit in the second on Wednesday (or at least take players off early) so no surprise we’ve gone strong," another added.

"Martinelli is actually back. That’s nice," one fan typed.

"Great news! Martinelli's return adds more depth to Arsenal’s attack," another chimed in.

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"We’ll fight until the end" - Arsenal skipper Martin Odegaard sends out defiant message after falling 16 points behind Liverpool

Arsenal midfielder Martin Odegaard has vowed to fight for the Premier League title until the very end. His comments came after Liverpool defeated Southampton 3-1 at Anfield (March 8) to open up a 16-point gap over the Gunners.

Liverpool currently have 70 points from 29 games, 16 points above Arsenal who have two games in hand. While the Gunners have narrowly lost the title to Manchester City over the past two seasons, they have shown that they are more than capable of going on a winning run at the end of a campaign.

Odegaard said (via METRO):

"We’ll fight until the end. That’s the mindset of everyone. We’ve been fighting three years in a row for the title and you go a couple of years back then we were leading with a lot of points and then we finished second."

He added:

"It shows that everything is possible. We’ve put ourselves in a difficult position at the moment but we have to keep going. Hopefully we can – like last year – hit the top form towards the end and then we’ll see where that takes us in the league and also in the Champions League."

Arsenal will need to reduce the gap by securing a result against Ruben Amorim's Manchester United. The latter are struggling for form and are languishing in 15th place with 33 points.