Images surfaced showing Bukayo Saka with the Arsenal team ahead of their showdown with Liverpool despite injury fears
Arsenal star Bukayo Saka is apart of the squad to face Liverpool, images on social media have suggested. The England international has been a doubt for the Premier League showdown after limping off during the international break.
Mikel Arteta has stressed about Arsenal’s injury problems and selection issues with captain Martin Odegaard and William Saliba out for the Reds’ visit to the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. Further doubts were cast over the inclusion of Riccardo Calafiori, Jurrien Timber and Saka as they faced a race to be fit for the early top-of-the-table clash.
Images on social media surfaced showing both the winger and the Dutch defender with the Gunners squad at the team hotel. The unverified post allayed fears over their involvement in the squad, but the question marks remain over, not only the credibility of the images but the likelihood that both Saka and Timber will feature.
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Saka hasn’t played for Arsenal since before the October international break. A hamstring during England’s surprise defeat against Greece saw him leave the camp early and return to London Colney, but the issue has forced him to miss both Bournemouth and Shakhtar Donetsk – since the return of club football.
“He’s done a bit of training on the grass. How far we can get him before Sunday is another question,” the Arsenal manager said on Saka during his pre-match press conference.
On Timber, he added: “We expected him to be further back than where he is at the moment, but again we have to wait and see.”
The former Everton midfielder has been open about his worries over the selection for the visit of Liverpool. Arteta has gone as far as saying he has had ‘sleepless’ nights as a result of the mounting issues.
But should both Saka and Timber be available to play, it will be Liverpool who are without more first-teamers than their opponents. The Reds are already without Alisson Becker, Conor Bradley, Harvey Elliott, Diogo Jota and Federico Chiesa ahead of their trip to the capital.
“Normally, I prefer to go to bed with the lineup in my head so I can sleep like a baby,” Arteta said. “But sometimes it can not be as you have to wait for the next day. Sometimes two days before.
“Or just three days before you already have the idea: ‘Against this team, this is what I am going to do’ – but when you have uncertainty with injuries, that is tricky.
“For me, the stress comes from two things. First, when you don’t have options, what do you do? And then, you get in the shoes of the players and every time you make a decision it is a positive one for somebody and not so positive for one.
“That’s what causes a little bit of tummy ache if anything. But that happens every week, the process of choosing the lineup and understanding how everyone will feel about it.”
