Retour
As if being dumped out of the cup by a League Two side wasn’t bad enough, Arsenal’s injury problems look to be building up ahead of facing Liverpool this weekend.
The Gunners suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Fleetwood Town on Tuesday, ending their hopes of picking up the first piece of major silverware this season, and potentially leaving the door open for the likes of the Reds, who face Chelsea later.
Mikel Arteta will be hoping his players can dust themselves off as they prepare to visit Anfield on Sunday, although the Arsenal boss had more bad news to deliver to the club’s supporters after the defeat to Fleetwood.
Riccardo Calafiori, Noni Madueke and Declan Rice all missed the trip to Lancashire, with Arteta confirming afterwards all three had been left out of the squad due to injuries.
"Calafiori was out, Noni was out with an ankle, and Declan was feeling a problem the other day (against Everton), which is why I had to substitute him," the Arsenal manager explained.
That adds more potential issues to an already depleted squad. Bukayo Saka will also be missing after his injury against Bayern Munich last week, while William Saliba and Christos Tzolis are long-term absentees.
Max Dowman’s red card on Tuesday won’t help Arteta at all either, with the 16-year-old now suspended for the trip to Liverpool.
The Reds of course have their fair share of injuries to contend with as well, although that won’t do much to lift the spirits of Arteta at the moment, who described his side’s loss at Fleetwood as a “very sad day”.
"First of all, congratulations to Fleetwood," the Gunners boss said. "In the manner they did it, the atmosphere they created. I have nothing to fault the players for their attitude and intensity throughout the game, with 11 and with 10, but when you are playing in that superior way, you have to give nothing to the opponent.
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"When we create the volume of shots and chances we did, you have to score three, four or five. You capitalise on it. If you don't, there are no margins, and that's the reality. Then you have to wait and get through the round on penalties, and we didn't do that.
"The probability was low with the way the game was panning out, but it's football and still with low probability, there is always a chance you could be out of the cup."