Arsenal braced for 'triple boost' as trio step up injury recoveries before Watford match

In-form Arsenal could be boosted by the return of three players for their next Premier League fixture against Watford next weekend, latest reports suggest.

The Gunners head to Vicarage Road on 14 October having successfully steadied the ship in the aftermath of a humiliating defeat to Liverpool in August, winning six of their last seven games across all competitions and battling to a deserved point away at defending champions Chelsea.

According to football.london, Arsene Wenger's squad could be further strengthened for that Saturday teatime affair in Hertfordshire as a trio of first-teamers – Danny Welbeck, Mesut Ozil and Francis Coquelin – step up their respective injury recoveries.

Combative French midfielder Coquelin is already said to be back in training having not featured since limping out of a 3-0 home victory over Bournemouth last month with a hamstring problem.

Oft-maligned playmaker Ozil – who former Arsenal stalwart Martin Keown claimed this week has "downed tools" and "already mentally left" the club – is expected to do likewise on Monday (9 October) after a bout of knee inflammation that has seen him miss a handful of games already this season including that aforementioned draw with Chelsea and recent wins over BATE Borisov and Brighton & Hove Albion.

Versatile forward Welbeck also looks set to return to training at the beginning of next week after being sidelined since the 73rd minute of that clash at Stamford Bridge with a groin issue.

However, it remains to be seen if influential centre-back Laurent Koscielny will be fit to face Watford as the Frenchman battles a long-running Achilles injury that he has previously acknowledged will require daily treatment for the remainder of his career.

Lesser-spotted defender Calum Chambers has been troubled by a hip injury since making his first and only appearance of the season in a narrow Carabao Cup fourth-round defeat of League One outfit Doncaster Rovers.

Long-term absentee Santi Cazorla, who has undergone no fewer than eight operations on his ankle since last autumn, is not expected to make his much-awaited comeback until after Christmas and was omitted from Arsenal's 25-man Premier League squad for the first half of the season.

The technically-gifted midfielder has not played a single minute of football since a Champions League tie against Bulgarian champions Ludogorets Razgrad in October 2016 and is still working to rebuild the strength in his lower right leg.