Riccardo Calafiori trained with Arsenal ahead of Wednesday’s game against Kairat Almaty, but at least five other players have been ruled out of the match.
The good news from Arsenal’s training session on Tuesday is that Riccardo Calafiori was once again involved with the team, following his return to training last week.
Calafiori had missed Arsenal’s game against Manchester United at the weekend, but it looks as though he’s closing in on a return to action after injury. The expanded Champions League benches could provide an opportunity for that comeback against Kairat Almaty on Wednesday.
The bad news is that some of Arsenal’s extra squad space will be created by five other absentees for the game.
For a start, Declan Rice and Mikel Merino are both suspended, with Merino also missing Tuesday’s training session. The midfield duo picked up their third yellow cards of the Champions League campaign last week against Inter Milan.
Then William Saliba and Jurrien Timber were both absent from Tuesday’s session as well, with Mikel Arteta confirming the duo “are out” of Wednesday’s match.
“They have some niggles, and it is a good opportunity to get them in the best possible condition for the weekend,” Arteta explained.
The last known absentee will be Max Dowman, who still hasn’t returned to training with the Arsenal first team after his injury. Dowman is ineligible for the Champions League squad anyway, after the Gunners used the emergency replacement rule to bring in Gabriel Jesus.
Dowman will be able to return to the squad again for the knockout stages, and hopefully he’s fit by that stage.