Arsenal team news: Santi Cazorla back, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Mertesacker out

Arsene Wenger held his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday's 3rd Place Cage Match (maybe 2nd if Tottenham players keep deciding to do dumb things) against Manchester City with a mixed bag of team news.

Wenger revealed that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will be out for 6-8 weeks with a knee injury. This is a sad end to a disappointing season for a player many expected to break out this season. Thomas has a more in-depth look at Ox's injury and its impact on his summer plans as well as its potential impact on his future at Arsenal.

The boss also noted that Per Mertesacker would be out for the rest of the season with the hamstring injury that forced him to be substituted off last weekend. Wenger matter-of-factly stated that Gabriel would take BFG's spot in the starting XI despite some inconsistent play in recent months by the Brazilian. That whole feel-good "every first-teamer is healthy and training" story lasted exactly one week. *Flicks "Number of Days Without an Arsenal Injury Sign" back down to zero*

Finally, some good news. Santi Cazorla has come out of his U21 match rehab stint unscathed and will be in the squad Sunday. While it seems highly unlikely Cazorla will start after sitting out for so long, it seems likely that he will make an appearance.

All in all, Arsenal are in good shape heading into the weekend and have no excuses for a poor performance in this big, if not quite as big as we might have hoped, match.