Mikel Arteta has provided updates this morning on Arsenal’s injury situation ahead of Saturday’s clash with Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Arsenal have a fairly lengthy list of injuries, illnesses, and suspensions going into Saturday’s match against Premier League strugglers Wolves, but Mikel Arteta hinted on Friday that one or two players could be dropping off that list imminently.
Though Arteta wouldn’t confirm whether William Saliba will be available for the Wolves match, he did say that the centre-back “looks better” after his recent ankle setback.
The Arsenal boss did at least confirm the latest that Saliba will be back, telling the media the centre-back “will be fit for Everton” next Saturday. But for Wolves he admitted: “He hasn’t trained with us yet. Let’s see if he can be available.”
On Jurrien Timber and Leandro Trossard, Arteta used his favourite phrase, claiming the pair are only out for “a matter of days”, and their involvement against Wolves depends on how they feel in training today.
As for Declan Rice, who has been ill, Arteta again said: “Let’s see how he is today. He was ill, normally in a few days it gets resolved.”
One player who definitely won’t be available against Wolves is Riccardo Calafiori, as he’s suspended. The positive side of that is he can focus on fully recovering from a knock he picked up last weekend, though the issue wasn’t serious enough to prevent him featuring as a substitute on Wednesday.
Arsenal’s other four injury problems are all longer-term issues, with none of Cristhian Mosquera, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Magalhaes, and Max Dowman expected to return anytime soon.
Havertz and Gabriel are probably the closest, but even then they aren’t set for a comeback before the very final games of the year at the earliest. Most likely, all four will be out until 2026.