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Mikel Arteta was disappointed about Max Dowman's red card when he spoke ahead of Arsenal's trip to Liverpool. The club learned on Thursday that an independent commission had thrown out both of their appeals, one against the dismissal at Fleetwood on 27 October and one against the length of the three-match ban. "I'm very disappointed, to be fair," Arteta said. He pointed to the reckless tackles Dowman took before he reacted and called that reaction minimal by comparison. He also defended his own touchline reaction that night. "We are not in Disneyland. We are in the Premier League at this level." That's the right stance, because a manager who shrugs at those challenges is telling opponents they can keep making them. The ban stands regardless, so the work now is making sure Dowman isn't wound up into a second one.
The fitness news is better, because Christos Tzolis is back in full training after nearly four weeks out. He hurt his hamstring early in Greece's 2-2 draw with the Netherlands at the start of the month and came back to London for treatment. Bukayo Saka is a different story. Arteta said the quad injury will "probably" keep him out until after the international break, though he added that "we'll have to see next week". With Saka likely to be out for that long, Tzolis returning is the most useful thing Arteta got out of the week. Noni Madueke has an ankle knock from the Everton win, and Arteta will decide on him after one more training session. His comments on Madueke read as a challenge as much as a fitness update. "He needs to make that click," Arteta said, adding that this is what top elite players do and that Madueke has the attributes for it.
Then there's Anfield. Arsenal's last league win there was a 2-0, 14 years ago, when new signings Lukas Podolski and Santi Cazorla scored their first goals for the club. Since then they've drawn five and lost eight of 13 visits. "It's 14 years that we haven't won there, so it's time to do it," Arteta said. They go in second on 21 points after eight games, with Liverpool fourth on 15. The figure that worries me more is from last season, when Arsenal didn't score in either league meeting with Liverpool. Without Saka, finding goals is the harder half of ending that run. Arsenal are at Anfield on Sunday 1 November, then away to Slavia Prague on Wednesday 4 November.
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