Calafiori joins growing list of walking wounded for Arsenal ahead of crucial Premier League game vs Liverpool.
Calafiori is the latest entrant in a seemingly growing injury list for the Gunners as they approach a crucial game against Liverpool in the league.
The Italian defender was hooked off midway through the second half with what appeared to be a knee injury. However, his absence did not have a negative impact on the outcome as Arsenal closed out a 1-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta gave a glum-looking assessment of the defender’s condition after the game. He believes it is “Not great news” with regards to the defender. Arsenal already have the likes of Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, and Jurrien Timber on the treatment table. Losing Calafiori will put a significant dent in their personnel with defender William Saliba already suspended for the Liverpool game.
“He had to come off because he felt something,” Arteta said of Calafiori. “I don’t know the extent of it, so in that sense not great news.” On the prospect of a return this weekend for Saka, who has sat out the past two games with a hamstring injury, the manager replied: “He wasn’t able to train yet so that’s unlikely.”
However, in what could be considered a glimmer of positivity depending on which way Arteta looks at it, fullback Ben White is not an injury doubt. He was hooked on at half-time and th worry was that it was another injury. However, Arteta allayed fears by saying that taking off White was a tactical sub because of the defender being on a yellow card.
“It was my decision to take him out,” he said. “He had a yellow card and we’ve played enough with 10 men in recent periods. [Shakhtar] had a lot of density on that side. A lot of players on that side, so I didn’t want to take any chances there.”
While Arteta did express his concern on the dropoff of his side’s performance. He was confident that there won’t be a repeat on Sunday against the League leaders.
“I was expecting a bit of a drop off,” he said. It was referring to the proximity of the game with Bournemouth last Saturday and the recent international break. “And the fact that we put so much in the first half and didn’t get the distance in terms of the scoreline. I think we paid a bit for that. But we have now four days. Believe me, come Sunday we’ll be flying.”