Mikel Arteta confirmed on Tuesday night that three new players were unavailable to face Fleetwood Town due to injury, in addition to the three known absentees.
Arsenal fans knew the team would be without William Saliba, Bukayo Saka, and Christos Tzolis against Fleetwood Town on Tuesday, but Mikel Arteta confirmed after the game that three more players were unavailable.
“[Riccardo] Calafiori was out, Noni [Madueke] was out with an ankle, and Declan [Rice] was feeling a problem the other day, which is why I had to substitute him,” Arteta confirmed.
Calafiori and Rice’s issues had been hinted at prior to Tuesday night, though neither were believed to be particularly serious.
After Saturday’s game against Everton, Arteta told the media Calafiori had “a light issue”, adding: “We’re not quite sure what it is, something very small, but he was cautious of that.”
As for Rice, the midfielder had been substituted against Everton, but he posted afterwards on his social media pages that he was “feeling good”.
Yet the duo were clearly still unable to feature on Tuesday night, which raises the question of whether they’ll be fit enough to play against Liverpool this weekend.
The bigger concern is around Madueke, considering Saka’s absence and Max Dowman’s suspension. Unless Tzolis makes his return this weekend, Arsenal will be relying on Madueke against Liverpool.
Unfortunately, there’s little information available about the winger’s injury at this stage, beyond Arteta’s comments.
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