12 players could miss Arsenal vs Liverpool with Bukayo Saka injury update in Mikel Arteta crisis

Injury absences for Arsenal's Premier League clash against Liverpool could stretch into double figures with both Arne Slot and Mikel Arteta facing an anxious wait. The Gunners, in particular, are being hampered by injuries with arguably three of their most important players all in line to miss out.

That includes William Saliba through suspension, Martin Odegaard, who is still recovering from an ankle injury, and Bukayo Saka because of a minor hamstring tweak that has seen him miss the last two games. Saliba is guaranteed to be absent and.

“I don’t think so [Odegaard fit to play Liverpool]. Martin is frustrated and desperate to return. But hopefully this period will teach him some things that are important in life," Arteta said after the win against Shakhtar Donetsk. Moments before that update, Arteta was handed a fresh injury worry.

During the second half, "With Riccy he had to come off because he felt something," he said in an immediate update after the game. "I don’t know the extent of it but it’s not good news."

Calafiori had been playing at left-back in recent weeks with Jurrien Timber on the opposite flank in the absence of Ben White. The latter has since returned but Timber is now the one dealing with an issue and has not been spotted since the first half of the European triumph over Paris Saint-Germain before the October international break.

The final two injury concerns for Arsenal also come in defence with Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney both expected to be absent. As for Liverpool, Arne Slot is also dealing with some major injury worries surrounding at least two players that are frequent starters.

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Goalkeeper Alisson has already been ruled out because of a new hamstring injury picked up earlier this month and now Diogo Jota is facing a race against time to make the clash at Emirates Stadium. In the weekend victory over Chelsea he suffered a firm blow to the stomach area which forced him off after just 30 minutes.

Since then, . "Conor Bradley, Harvey Elliott and Federico Chiesa didn't make the trip [to Germany], so we have a few issues," he said in a press conference on Tuesday.

"Diogo got a knock, brought down but the other player fell on to him, he couldn't carry on and it is difficult to judge at this moment. Ribs? Somewhere over here, bruised I think, so we'll have to see how long it is going to take." Liverpool have since beaten RB Leipzig in the Champions League with no fresh injury concerns arriving.

Mohamed Salah was taken off early by Slot but that was likely because of the impending title showdown with Arsenal and his importance to Liverpool. In all, 12 players could be absent across both teams with Slot and Arteta likely keen to get one over on a major rival.