Mikel Arteta is still dealing with numerous Arsenal injury worries ahead of the Champions League clash against Shakhtar Donetsk – despite four players overcoming fitness concerns to play against Bournemouth. Kai Havertz and Thomas Partey, despite both leaving international duty early, started the game along with the returning Ben White.
Despite some key players featuring, the Gunners still suffered their first defeat of the season, with William Saliba sent off in the first half. Gabriel Martinelli, who was dealing with a calf injury while representing Brazil, also appeared off the bench and missed a golden chance to put his side in front before they conceded twice in nine minutes.
Bukayo Saka and Jurrien Timber missed the clash because of injury, despite Arteta’s hopeful update before the defeat at Vitality Stadium. “It’s not a serious injury, and he’s evolving well,” he said of Saka. “He was probably good enough to play with the national team second game. We have some big tests today [on Friday] so we are hopeful.”
“They are quite close the three of them [White, Timber and Zinchenko],” he also revealed. “Today [Friday] we’ll have to push. We are struggling a bit with the numbers, especially in our right side.” Though White started the game and Zinchenko was on the bench, Timber was not included in the squad.
With just three days between the clash at Bournemouth and Champions League tie against Shakhtar, either being fit for Tuesday evening is unlikely. Despite it not looking promising, Arteta offered a positive update on the duo that missed the weekend’s clash, but again confirmed that Martin Odegaard would be out because of an ankle injury.
“They are closer and both progressing really well. Martin is still not fit,” Arteta told reporters. “With Bukayo, let’s see how he feels today and in the training session that we have later on.” football.london was at the Sobha Realty Training Centre for that session and neither Saka or Timber were spotted.
Missing training just over 24 hours before their next clash makes it extremely unlikely that either feature, and it would also be foolish of Arteta to risk either with such a huge clash against Liverpool to come this weekend. Takehiro Tomiyasu was also absent against Bournemouth after appearing to suffer an injury setback.
Kieran Tierney is also still recovering from a hamstring injury picked up back at Euro 2024 while playing for Scotland. That means Arteta will be without five players as Saliba will serve his one-match ban in the Premier League.
