Mikel Arteta has faced plenty of challenges during his time as Arsenal manager, but Sunday’s meeting with Liverpool will be a real test for the Spaniard.
Arsenal are coming into the match off the back of a difficult week. The Gunners looked out of sorts in their defeat at Bournemouth even before William Saliba’s red card, and were far from convincing in their narrow win against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League.
Saliba will miss out on Sunday through suspension, while captain Martin Odegaard has also yet to return from the injury he picked up on Norway duty in September. There are also question marks on Bukayo Saka and Riccardo Calafiori, while Jurrien Timber isn’t guaranteed to return after missing the last two games.
“Saka not training yet so he won’t be available and Ricci [Calafiori] felt something [against Shakhtar] and could not stay on. Bit of a worry.” Arteta told Amazon Prime after the 1-0 midweek win.
Any game would be tricky for Arsenal with their absentee list, but the opposition makes things even tougher. Liverpool have yet to lose an away game under Arne Slot, though they have injury issues of their own with Alisson unavailable and Diogo Jota a major doubt.
Arteta’s decisions will be informed, at least in part, by who is fit enough to start. Here, Mirror Football provides five possible line-ups for the top-of-the-table clash.
The dream scenario for Arteta is not quite full strength, but it’s close to that. Odegaard still looks set to miss out, and Saliba is definitely unavailable, while there has been no indication Takehiro Tomiyasu or Kieran Tierney will be back available imminently – something that has become more of an issue given injuries elsewhere.
