Mikel Arteta provided injury updates on three Arsenal players ahead of Thursday’s game against Liverpool, with two ruled out of the clash.
Arsenal’s injury list has been shrinking in recent weeks, but there are still a few players with question marks around their availability for the coming games.
Defenders Cristhian Mosquera and Riccardo Calafiori are certainly in that category, with Mosquera missing Arsenal’s last nine games and Calafiori missing the last four.
Unfortunately, Mikel Arteta confirmed on Wednesday that neither player would be making a comeback against Liverpool, though they could be involved again “soon”.
“They are out again,” Arteta said. “I think [they could be back] pretty soon, they have to go to the last stage of the rehab, and if everything goes well, hopefully very soon they will be available for selection.”
Another doubt was Kai Havertz, who returned from injury to make the bench against Aston Villa but then sat out of the subsequent game against Bournemouth.
Arteta confirmed media reports that Havertz’s absence was due to load management, adding that the striker has been back in training again this week.
“We are obviously monitoring his load; he has been out for a long time for two different reasons, and he is very close,” Arteta said. “He trained this morning again, and hopefully we are going to have him available in the best version of Kai Havertz.”
Based on those quotes, Havertz should be available for the match, meaning only Mosquera, Calafiori, and Max Dowman will miss it. Dowman is expected to be out until February.