It has not taken long for Arsenal’s squad to start creaking under the weight of the much-criticised schedule.
Still missing Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard, as well as full-backs Jurrien Timber and Takehiro Tomiyasu, Arsenal continued their steady progress through the Champions League with a 1-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday, but it will have come at a price if their injury list lengthens.
Mikel Arteta insisted that the decision to replace Ben White, who had been booked, was tactical – “We’ve played enough with 10 men in recent periods,” he said – but Riccardo Calafiori was forced off in the second half after appearing to jar his knee.
“He felt something, I don’t know the extent of it so in that sense not great news,” said Arteta, who added that Calafiori’s situation was “a worry”.
Arsenal host league leaders Liverpool on Sunday and, if Calafiori is out, Arteta is facing a major problem in both full-back positions, assuming neither Timber nor Tomiyasu makes a surprise return.
Arsenal will already be without suspended centre-half William Saliba for the six-pointer following his straight red card in the defeat at Bournemouth, meaning White will likely deputise at centre-half with Thomas Partey filling in at right-back.
Partey played the second half at right-back against Shakhtar following Mikel Merino’s introduction for White, in what appeared to be a dry run for Sunday’s game.
Partey is comfortable playing full-back, particularly when he inverts into midfield, but the 31-year-old is not quick, which should offer encouragement to Luis Diaz, who is likely to patrol Liverpool’s left side.
More concerning for Arteta, though, is who will face up to the top-flight’s deadliest wide player, Mohamed Salah, on the opposite flank.
Arsenal are not short of options, although none is especially convincing. Myles Lewis-Skelly, a teenage midfielder who has been converted to full-back, replaced Calafiori against the Ukrainian giants but it would be an enormous challenge for the 18-year-old to be tasked with stopping Salah.
Oleksandr Zinchenko is an experienced option but defensively suspect, while Jakub Kiwior has also tended to struggle, his latest mistake coming with a limp back-pass to play David Raya into trouble ahead of Bourneouth’s second goal at the weekend.
Stopping Salah does not guarantee stopping Liverpool but if Arsenal fail to deal with the Egyptian convincingly, it is hard to see how they will not finish the weekend seven points behind their title rivals.
Arteta also confirmed afterwards that Odegaard, his captain, would not be fit to return to the side for Sunday’s visit of league leaders Liverpool, while he was less definitive on Saka, who should nonetheless be considered a doubt at this stage after picking up a muscle problem on England duty.
Arsenal have understandably looked short of creative spark without Odegaard, while their reliance on Saka for cutting edge was again underlined on Tuesday.
Leandro Trossard’s limp second-half penalty, which was saved by the legs of Dmytro Riznyk, summed up their finishing on the night, as they failed to build on Riznyk’s own goal after 29 minutes.df
