Arsenal team news vs Fulham: Mesut Ozil to be assessed as Hector Bellerin and Nacho Monreal could return

Arsenal will give Mesut Ozil every chance of proving his fitness ahead of their New Year's Day Premier League clash with Fulham.

Ozil missed Saturday's 5-1 thrashing at Liverpool with a knee complaint but will be assessed ahead of the visit of Claudio Ranieri's side.

Unai Emery gave a series of short and snappy answers when asked about Ozil’s condition after the Liverpool defeat. He confirmed Ozil had a knee injury, but could not predict a date for his return.

“I don’t know if it’s big or not big, but it’s his knee,” said the Arsenal manager.

Stephen Lichtsteiner and Shkodran Mustafi passed fitness tests to play Liverpool at the weekend, but the game came too soon for Hector Bellerin (calf) and Nacho Monreal (hamstring).

The defensive duo could feature against Fulham as Rob Holding (knee), Konstantinos Mavropanos (groin), Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Danny Welbeck (both ankle) miss out.

Provisional squad: Leno, Cech, Martinez, Jenkinson, Lichtsteiner, Koscielny, Papastathopoulos, Mustafi, Medley, Maitland-Niles, Xhaka, Elneny, Torreira, Guendouzi, Ramsey, Iwobi, Mkhitaryan, Ozil, Saka, Lacazette, Aubameyang, Nketiah.