Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta
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Arsenal travel to Anfield on Sunday with a long injury list and little room for error. The Premier League champions are level on points with Manchester City at the top of the table.
Declan Rice was substituted in the 80th minute of Saturday’s 2-0 win over Everton after being seen holding his hamstring.
He then missed Tuesday’s Carabao Cup exit at Fleetwood Town, along with Noni Madueke and Riccardo Calafiori, as Arsenal lost 5-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw.
Bukayo Saka remains out with the left quad injury he suffered against Bayern Munich, and Mikel Arteta has said his recovery will take weeks.
William Saliba has yet to play this season because of a back injury.
Max Dowman, 16, was also sent off late in the second half at Fleetwood. The red card carries a three-match ban that would cover Liverpool, Hull City and Newcastle United, but Arsenal are appealing and want a verdict before Sunday.
There is some encouragement, though.
According to The Sun’s Simon Collings, Christos Tzolis, Declan Rice, Noni Madueke and Mikel Merino are all expected to be fit to face Liverpool.
Tzolis has been out the longest. The winger, who joined from Club Brugge in the summer, hurt his hamstring on Greece duty against the Netherlands and has missed five Arsenal games.
Arteta said he would be out for a few weeks, and that timeframe has now passed. Other reports are more cautious and describe him as a long shot to be involved on Sunday.
Rice trained on Monday before the Fleetwood tie. Arteta said after the Everton game that the issue “seems to be something very small, but he was cautious about it”.
Rice posted on social media that he was “feeling good”.
Madueke played the full 90 minutes against Everton. Arteta said an ankle problem kept him out of the Fleetwood trip, and he was not spotted in training on Monday.
His fitness matters most on the right flank, with Saka out and Dowman’s ban unresolved.
Merino, who won the World Cup with Spain this summer, completes the quartet. He started the win over Everton and was replaced in the 68th minute.
Calafiori is not among the four players named by The Sun. Reports differ on his availability, with some expecting him to be fit despite genuine concern.
Arteta is expected to give a fuller update at his pre-match press conference.