Mikel Arteta Confirms Triple Arsenal Injury Blow Ahead of Liverpool Clash

Arsenal were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Fleetwood on Tuesday, and Mikel Arteta has confirmed that he was unable to call on three of his players because of injury

Arsenal’s night went from bad to worse after Mikel Arteta confirmed that three of his players are doubts to face Liverpool on Sunday. Riccardo Calafiori, Noni Madueke and Declan Rice missed Tuesday’s shock defeat to Fleetwood in the Carabao Cup through injury.

The Gunners were dumped out by the League Two side on penalties, despite Arteta having named a strong starting line-up due to Arsenal’s growing injury problems. William Saliba, Bukayo Saka and Christos Tzolis are long-term absentees, while Max Dowman will be suspended at the weekend following his ill-disciplined red card against Fleetwood.

Post-match, Arteta confirmed why Calafiori, Madueke and Rice were left at home instead of travelling to Lancashire for the cup tie. “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.

Arteta will be desperate to have some, if not all, of the trio back for their trip to Liverpool, with Rice notably spotted in training with his team-mates on Monday. After Saturday’s 2-0 victory over Everton, Arsenal are level on points with Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table and want to continue their winning run.

But their hopes of winning the Carabao Cup for the first time in 34 years have already been dashed before the quarter-final stage. Arteta described it as a ‘very sad day’ after losing to Fleetwood, who he praised for pulling off arguably the biggest shock in the competition’s history.

“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.

“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.”

After taking on Liverpool at Anfield, Arsenal resume their Champions League campaign away to Slavia Prague. The Gunners then welcome Hull prior to the November international break.