Arsenal suffer another injury blow following win at Anfield as well as update on Bukayo Saka ahead of international break.
Mikel Arteta - Arsenal
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Managing a squad through a congested schedule often requires careful decisions about who is ready to feature. Small issues can influence selection even when a player is close to full fitness. The balance between short-term availability and longer-term recovery becomes especially important when multiple fixtures arrive in quick succession.
Arsenal have a new injury concern as the second international break of the season approaches. It was the ideal Premier League weekend for the Gunners as their first win over Liverpool at Anfield in the league since 2012 means they capitalised on Manchester City’s slip-up. As such, Arsenal are three points clear at the summit with one more Premier League match to play before the season pauses for a fortnight.
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Before Arsenal welcome Hull to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, they travel to Prague to face Slavia Praha as the league phase of this season’s Champions League reaches the halfway point. Mikel Arteta will have Declan Rice, Noni Madueke and Riccardo Calafiori available for that trip after the trio shook off knocks to start and play the full 90 minutes at Anfield, while Christos Tzolis’ surprise start was a bonus given a rather worrying update on Eberechi Eze.
Eze had been expected to start against Liverpool after an impressive performance off the bench in the 2-2 draw against Bayern Munich as well as a decent showing in the win over Everton. However, not only was Eze dropped in favour of the returning Tzolis, he remained on the bench throughout. Speaking after the game, Arteta revealed the England international had been dealing with an injury concern of his own.
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“We had an issue with Ebs as well that it was incredible that he was in the squad today,” the Arsenal manager said. “I want to give credit to all the medical and the performance team because what they’re doing with those boys is incredible, every three days to keep everybody at this level. That’s why these are the margins sometimes where you win a football match and not when you have somebody available or not.”
The fact that Eze was fit enough for the bench suggests his injury is not too serious and should be in contention to face Slavia Praha, though Arteta should provide a further update after Tuesday’s open training session. Potential return date: Wednesday November 4, vs Slavia Prague (A).
Bukayo Saka has now missed Arsenal’s last three games in all competitions with a quad injury sustained after just 10 minutes against Bayern Munich. He is not expected to feature against either Slavia Prague or Hull before the international break, but fans are still in the dark as to how long he will be sidelined for. Amid fears Saka could be out for action for up to eight weeks, it has since been revealed that he is set to undergo another scan before a definite timeline can be stated.
“As I said, he needed another scan to see how the amount of fluid that was there was resolving, whether the tendon is touched and how badly it is touched,” Arteta said before the win over Liverpool. “Afterwards we’ll know more about it.” Potential return date: Unknown.
William Saliba has yet to play for Arsenal this season due to a long-term back injury that he exacerbated while on duty for France at the World Cup finals this summer. He was able to avoid surgery and has recently resumed working individually back out on the grass at Arsenal’s training ground as he steps up his recovery. “Next week, we have another MRI with him to see how the healing process is at the moment,” Arteta said. “Every sign so far has been very, very positive. It will be great to have him.” Potential return date: December.
The updates provide a clearer picture of availability heading into the two fixtures this week. Arteta will assess the squad further in training before finalising his plans for the trip to Prague.
Mikel Arteta - Arsenal
Mikel Arteta - Arsenal
Arsenal defender William Saliba
Arsenal defender William Saliba