Liverpool will return to the top of the Premier League with a win over Arsenal – but it will not be a simple task for the Reds even against injury-hit opponents.
Arsenal are continuing to sweat over the fitness of their key players before they meet Liverpool. The Reds are set to visit north London on Sunday afternoon – looking to restore their place at the top of the Premier League.
Manchester City leap-frogged Arne Slot’s side to go to the summit thanks to Erling Haaland’s goal in their 1-0 win over Southampton. Liverpool face the latest test in a taxing week – which featured triumphs over Chelsea and RB Leipzig – when coming up against City’s main top-flight title rivals for the last two seasons.
There are lingering question marks over the fitness of Bukayo Saka, Riccardo Calafiori and Jurrien Timber following their respective injury issues. Mikel Arteta will definitely be without Martin Odegaard – who is still recovering from an ankle problem – not to mention the banned William Saliba after his red card vs Bournemouth.
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Writing in his programme notes pre-match, Odegaard said: “I’ve been out for a few weeks now – and have been working hard to get back as soon as possible. As I said in my notes on Tuesday night, I feel like it’s close now but, although I haven’t been involved in games lately, I feel I’ve still been able to use that time pretty well, too.
“To be honest my days haven’t been much different to before. I’m still at the training ground every day, and they are long days, as well. I’m usually pretty tired after – because I’ve been doing a lot of work with the great medical and fitness team we have and I’ve spent a lot of time in the gym, as well.”
There is an anxious wait over the fitness of Timber, meanwhile, ahead of Sunday afternoon and Holland manager Ronald Koeman has possibly offered an insight into the problem. A provisional squad for November’s international break was released this week – with the full-back left out of the Dutch’s preliminary group.
Arteta gave little away, though, during a pre-match press conference. “He has had the first session he could have some involvement with,” the Spaniard told reporters.
“He has been out for a while. We expected him to be further back than where he is at the moment, but again we have to wait and see.”
