‘They are out…’ – Mikel Arteta confirms double Arsenal injury blow ahead of Liverpool showdown
Mikel Arteta has ruled two Arsenal players out of contention to feature against Liverpool on Thursday night, with another racing against the clock to be fit in time for the Emirates Stadium showdown.
His counterpart Arne Slot has a significant injury concern of his own to occupy him in the lead-up to the fixture, with the Reds’ head coach uncertain as to whether Hugo Ekitike will be available tomorrow night after he missed the 2-2 draw at Fulham last weekend.
While the French striker could still recover in time for this game, the champions will be without Alexander Isak, Wataru Endo and Giovanni Leoni (all injured) and Mo Salah (still at the Africa Cup of Nations).
Arteta confirms two Arsenal absences for Liverpool clash
Arteta held his pre-match press conference on Wednesday lunchtime, and he confirmed that Arsenal defenders Riccardo Calafiori and Cristhian Mosquera will miss the game against Liverpool.
The Gunners boss said of that duo (via Sky Sports): “They are out again. I think pretty soon [they will be back. They have to go through the last stage of rehab and, if everything goes well, hopefully very soon they will be available for selection.”
However, the 43-year-old is hopeful of having Kai Havertz available tomorrow night, saying: “We are monitoring him, his load. He’s been out for a long time, for two different reasons, and he’s very close. He trained this morning again and hopefully we’re going to have him available and the best version of Kai very soon.”
Arsenal will pose a huge test for Liverpool despite those absences
It’s set to be a case of a slightly depleted Arsenal defence against a somewhat more depleted Liverpool attack in north London on Thursday, especially if Ekitike doesn’t win his race against time to be passed fit to play.
Even without Calafiori and Mosquera, though, the Gunners will still have the much-lauded centre-back partnership of Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba, with the former illustrating his threat in the opposition’s penalty area once again by scoring in his team’s 3-2 win at Bournemouth last weekend.
The Brazilian also netted at Anfield towards the end of last season, and he and Arteta will be all too aware of the Reds’ deficiencies from defending set pieces in recent weeks and months.
Many pundits are predicting a comfortable Arsenal win tomorrow night despite their couple of absentees, and while objectively such a stance is justified, Liverpool know they have the quality in their ranks to halt the league leaders’ momentum.
It’s never nice to see players laid low with injury, and we wish Calafiori and Mosquera well with the remainder of their respective recoveries.
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