Arsenal injury mystery continues after latest update released ahead of Liverpool encounter
Arsenal’s injury situation will likely remain unknown heading into Sunday’s massive match against Liverpool at Anfield. Saturday afternoon, following Mikel Arteta’s press conference tease, the club released the most recent training photographs.
Arteta stated that one of his injured players could return to training prior to the trip to Liverpool. However, he refused to reveal the individual’s identity.
Arsenal is currently missing four players due to injury. With respective knee injuries, however, Mohamed Elneny and Takehiro Tomiyasu have been ruled out for the remainder of the season.
In recent weeks, William Saliba and Eddie Nketiah are the other two injured stars who have missed matches. Saliba has missed the previous two games due to a back injury, while Nketiah has been sidelined by an ankle injury.
On the eve of the match, the media department of Arsenal released photographs from the club’s final training session before traveling to Liverpool. However, neither Saliba nor Nketiah were shown.
In the recent past, Arsenal has chosen not to post pictures of players in training if their participation in a match is uncertain, to prevent the opposition from gaining insight into their team selection. This may be the case this time, but the player who was close to returning to training may not have been ready to do so.
Arteta stated on Friday that he expects to have the same squad to choose from as last weekend’s victory over Leeds. However, he conceded that there was a slim chance one of the injured stars would return.
Arteta said: “There are no real changes with the rest of the players who were still injured. We have some hope with one of them tomorrow – maybe he’s able to train.”
However, he refused to reveal their identity when pressured to do so. Arteta replied with a grin, “I’m not going to tell you.”
All 20 members of Arsenal’s matchday squad against Leeds were captured in training. Arsenal seeks to extend its eight-point advantage over second-place Manchester City.
Saturday evening at St. Mary’s, City defeated Southampton 4-1 to close the gap on the league leaders. Since September 2012, when Arteta played in a 2-0 victory at Anfield, Arteta’s team has not won a league match at Anfield.
Arsenal injury mystery continues after latest update released ahead of Liverpool encounter
