Mikel Arteta provided updates on Arsenal's injured players ahead of their Champions League quarter-final second leg against Sporting. Key players' availability will impact the team's strategy for the match.
Arsenal injury news ahead of Sporting: who is available?
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Against Bournemouth, Arsenal were missing Mikel Merino, Jurrien Timber, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, and Riccardo Calafiori.
Ahead of their game against Sporting, Declan Rice also sat out the open training session adding to fears that he hasnāt quite recovered from the problem that saw him withdraw from England duty.
Next game: Arsenal vs Sporting, Champions League quarter-final, second leg
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As will be the case with most of the updates here, Arsenal are being very vague with details when it comes to injured players for reasons that are not quite clear. Last week, the Norway manager Stale Solbakken gave the best update weāve had on Odegaard since he picked up his latest problem that was picked up in the first leg against Sporting. Solbakken said, āMartin āgot oneā where he shouldnāt have, but I donāt think itās [a bad one]. I think heāll be back on the field in the not-too-distant future.
āHe has made a comeback and played two 60 minutes. [Now heās had] a small setback, but it doesnāt have to mean much.ā
Ahead of the second leg against Sporting, Arteta was asked about most of his injured players and refused to give updates on any of them.
Asked about team news, he replied, āYeah we have to wait till tomorrow morning to see how some of the boys are,ā and that theme carried on throughout.
Arsenal under Arteta have never been the best at giving injury updates but, to my mind, this is certainly the worst it has been all season.
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Arsenal have still to confirm the nature of the injury that has kept Jurrien Timber out of the squad for the last five games. The information we have, which came from the Dutch media, is that it is either an ankle or adductor issue.
When Arteta was asked about Saka and Timber and if one of them could be available, he said āMaybe one of them, letās see.ā
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There has been no information on what Sakaās problem actually is since he withdrew from England duty, but at the pre-Sporting press conference, Arteta actually clued us in.
In addition to what Arteta said above, he was asked again specifically about Saka and said, āIt was something he was carrying for a while. It was an Achilles issue.ā
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Do you know? Because we donātā¦
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Arteta was asked if heād like to tell reporters what Riceās problem is that saw him miss training on Tuesday. āI donāt want to do that,ā he said. āWe will have to wait and see in the morning.ā
Later in the press conference he added, āWell heās played a lot of games and that is part of the issue.ā
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Merino is out of his protective boot but is not expected to return for Arsenal before the end of the season. There is also some concern in Spain that he may miss the World Cup.
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Six Arsenal academy players trained with the first team before Wednesdayās game against Sporting CP, but only Marli Salmon looks likely to have any real chance of making the senior squad.
Remy Mitchell, Salmon, Patrick Stachow, Joshua Ogunnaike, Teshaun Murisa and Kyran Thompson were all involved in the session after the players mentioned above were missing from the session.
Salmon stands out because he has already made his Champions League debut, was on the bench in Lisbon last week, and was taken off at half-time for the under-21s as they lost 2-0 to Crystal Palace on Monday night, seemingly to keep him available for the first team.
The rest of the group were mostly under-18s or fringe under-21 players, which suggests they were there more to support training than because they are close to playing against Sporting.
The timing of Mondayās under-21 match may also explain why others such as Andre Harriman-Annous and Ife Ibrahim, who have been around the senior squad more often in recent months, were not involved this time.
Harriman-Annous and Ibrahim both played the full 90 against the Eagles in a game that sees the u21s sit 13th in Premier League 2. Had they won, they could have climbed as high as ninth.
Mikel Arteta has shared updates on the injured players, detailing who will be available for the Champions League quarter-final.
The specific players who are injured have not been disclosed in the updates, but Arteta addressed their status in the media briefing.
The availability of injured players will significantly influence Arsenal's tactical approach for the Champions League quarter-final.
Arsenal's Champions League quarter-final second leg against Sporting is scheduled for Wednesday.
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