Thomas Partey suffered a setback with his recovery, but Kai Havertz could return to the Arsenal starting lineup to face Liverpool.
Mikel Arteta will want a good result from his Arsenal side when they host Liverpool in a potential title-defining game at the Emirates. The Spaniard will want a stellar performance from his players, and he will settle for nothing other than three points.
During his pre-match press conference, Arteta gave the required team update while confirming a setback suffered by Thomas Partey in his bid to get fit. He did not mention any other absentees after their latest game, meaning the Gunners boss will have a near-full set of players at his disposal.
Partey returned to full training last month since sustaining a muscle injury back in October. However, he did not feature against Nottingham Forest, and now Arteta confirmed he had suffered a setback with his recovery. The manager also said he felt something in the same area that has seen the midfielder miss many months of action.
Arteta said, “With Thomas, unfortunately, we had a little setback a few days ago, so he’s not going to be available to be in the squad. Whether that’s a matter of days or weeks, we’ll see but he had a little thing.”
“It’s a big concern because he’s such an important player for us, and he was getting some momentum at the start of the season, and then we lost him for a while. Now, it’s been a long time without him, and he gives us something very different that no other player can give us in the squad. He’s been a real miss.”
In terms of the team news, there are no other injuries reported since the Nottingham Forest game. Jurrien Timber and Fabio Vieira remain sidelined, while Takehiro Tomiyasu could soon return after Japan were eliminated by Iran in the AFC Asian Cup.
The only change from the last game could be that of Kai Havertz coming back into midfield and replacing Emile Smith Rowe in the lineup. David Raya and the same back four will start against Liverpool, with Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard joining the Germans in midfield.
Leandro Trossard will come into Arteta’s thinking when making his selections. But the chances of Gabriel Martinelli starting are pretty high. Meanwhile, Gabriel Jesus will lead the line, with Bukayo Saka attacking from the right-hand side of the front three.
Predicted Arsenal XI: Raya; Ben White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Odegaard, Rice, Havertz; Saka, Jesus, Martinelli
