Soon, the Arsenal stars who are playing for their countries will return to north London, where Mikel Arteta is getting ready for the first North London Derby of the season.

The Gunners manager is working with players like Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard, and Ben White right now because other first team players are on international service. To be fair, many of them will be back in the next few days. The training will mostly be about getting the team ready for Sunday’s game against Tottenham.

One player who will not be at the game is Declan Rice. The former West Ham United captain was sent off against Brighton & Hove Albion before the international break, controversially being shown a second yellow card in the second half for kicking the ball away from Joel Veltman as the defender went to take a quick free kick.

Calafiori, who plays for Chelsea, is another player who might not be able to play in the North London Derby. The defender hurt his foot while playing for Italy against France on Friday, and he then left the camp. The 22-year-old will be checked out by Arsenal’s medical staff, and it’s still not clear if he’ll be ready for the weekend.

It’s clear that Rice’s absence is a huge loss. The 25-year-old has made a big difference for the team since moving from West Ham to Arsenal for £100 million last summer. Since moving from Bologna to the Gunners, Calafiori hasn’t started a game for them yet, but he has been brought on in the last two games. It looked like a start was about to happen, but the Italian’s new setback could change those plans.

Aaron Ramsdale’s move to Southampton on the last day of the transfer window made David Raya the clear first choice for Arsenal. Neto, who was signed from Bournemouth on a season-long loan, will start on the bench because this is his first game as a Gunners player.

Gabriel, Ben White, and William Saliba are all set to start on Sunday, as long as they don’t have any weird health problems before then. Arteta can play left back in a few different ways, though. The first game of the season for Arsenal was against Wolves, and Oleksandr Zinchenko started. The games against Aston Villa and Brighton were played by Jurrien Timber. There’s also Jakub Kiwior, a Polish player who might be a better defensive cover than the first two, though he hasn’t played yet this season.

Timber could start again if Calafiori is not deemed fit enough to start or make the bench. The Dutchman will have to be at his best because he could play Dejan Kulusevski, Brennan Johnson, or Wilson Odobert.

Martin Odegaard will lead the team as captain from the middle of the pitch. Thomas Partey is also expected to start because he has done so in all three of Arsenal’s games this season. It’s important to choose who will play instead of Rice, who is banned.

Since new player Mikel Merino is hurt, Jorginho might be the best person to fill in. The Italian hasn’t played a single minute this season, but he has a lot of experience and would likely do a good job if he was put in right away. Since Kai Havertz has had a good start to the season, Arteta might want to put him in one of the No.8 spots. Of course that would mean Havertz does not play as a striker against Tottenham but Arteta has previously spoken about Havertz’s talents as a midfielder and it could prove to be a decent one-week fix.

He will start on the right side, and the ball will be passed forward. On the left wing Arteta may opt for the pace of Gabriel Martinelli to try and exploit the space in-behind Pedro Porro given the right-back likes to invert. Leandro Trossard and new signing Raheem Sterling are decent options though.

With Havertz predicted to play in midfield, Arteta will need to pick a new striker and again Trossard and Sterling could be called upon for this role. Gabriel Jesus is said to be progressing well after picking up a groin injury last month and the Brazilian could be fit enough to make his return against Spurs. If so, it could be perfect timing for Arteta as Jesus has plenty of experience in these big games.

Possible Arsenal lineup against Tottenham: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber; Partey, Odegaard, Havertz; Saka, Martinelli, Jesus.