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Arsenal news: Did you see which surprise face trained with Gunners before Rennes clash?
ARSENAL fans will have been surprised to see a familiar face training with the Gunners before their Europa League tie with Rennes.
Arsenal squad train and board the plane ahead of Rennes clash
Arsenal are back in Europa League action on Thursday when they face Rennes in the first leg of their Round of 16 clash.
The Gunners were seen working hard at London Colney on Wednesday before flying out to France as Unai Emery put his squad through their paces.
However, fans will have been surprised to see Alexandre Lacazatte joining in with the drills despite the Frenchman’s European suspension.
Lacazette is currently serving a three-match ban for elbowing BATE Borisov defender Aleksandar Filipovic and is not available for either game against Rennes.
The striker lost his cool as Arsenal fell to a shock 1-0 defeat in Belarus, although the Gunners hit back at the Emirates and progressed through 3-1 on aggregate.
Lacazette was initially suspended for the second leg against BATE and UEFA subsequently increased his ban by two matches, ruling him out of the Round of 16.
Therefore it comes as a surprise to see the 27-year-old wearing Europa League gear and taking part in training with the squad before they travelled to France.
Similarly, Paul Pogba was pictured training with his Manchester United team-mates at the Parc des Princes despite being unavailable against Paris Saint-Germain.
There was no sign of Lacazette boarding the plane with the rest of his Arsenal team-mates at Luton, so it appears the frontman was merely called in to train and has not flown to Rennes with Emery’s men.
Arsenal have an almost fully-fit squad to select from against the Ligue 1 club, with just long-term absentees Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding and Danny Welbeck sidelined.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles should return from illness while Mesut Ozil is expected to start after being dropped last time out against Tottenham.
Lucas Torreira will also feature after picking up a domestic suspension at the weekend while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang should shoulder the attacking burden with Lacazette unavailable.