After the hard-fought victory against Shakhtar Donetsk, coach Mikel Arteta emphasized that if this is a successful season for Arsenal, then the team will surely remember these difficult matches in terms of both form and squad.
The long flights back from international duty left a clear toll on Arsenal. They lost to Bournemouth in a match where they failed to maintain their identity. Against Shakhtar Donetsk, the team appeared lackluster and lacked sharpness, only winning thanks to an own goal by the opponent. Arsenal’s form in the two matches following the international break has been unconvincing.
The tough win against Shakhtar Donetsk also came at a heavy cost with the injury of new signing Ricardo Calafiori. Medical experts suspect he may have suffered a serious knee injury after a hard landing. Despite his efforts to continue, Calafiori was forced to leave the field, making way for Myles Lewis-Skelly in the 72nd minute. If diagnosed as a ligament injury, the Italian could be sidelined for up to 10 weeks.
“This is certainly not good news. We still need to wait for the test results to know the exact extent of the injury and how long he’ll be out. But it’s truly exhausting,” Arteta expressed dejectedly after the match.
Clearly, the injury crisis is increasingly wreaking havoc on Arsenal’s squad. Arteta is already facing a major headache as The Gunners may have to host Liverpool at the Emirates this weekend without Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, and Jurrien Timber, all currently sidelined with injuries. Without them, especially Saka, can Arsenal still be the same team?
Arsenal have only lost once in 12 matches across all competitions since the start of the season. They haven’t conceded a goal in their three Champions League matches and are temporarily sitting fourth in the group stage standings after three rounds. But this is just temporary. The road ahead remains long. If Arsenal continues to lose players to injuries, the worst is yet to come.
Lackluster form and a growing injury list are not the ideal way for Arsenal to approach the upcoming showdown with Liverpool on Sunday. “In the first half, we had great dominance and created four big chances. We should have closed the game with the upper hand and the control we had.
The Arsenal players looked fatigued after the break. We lacked sharpness both with and without the ball in the right moments and areas, and we missed several quick transitions due to unfortunate losses of possession. We even missed a penalty (Leandro Trossard missed a penalty in the 77th minute),” the 42-year-old coach emphasized after the match.
Now, Arsenal have four days to prepare for the clash with Liverpool. Arteta’s plan is to give the players one day off, review the footage of the match against Shakhtar Donetsk, and then dedicate two full days to preparing meticulously for the match at Emirates. “Sunday is still far away, and we will prepare the best we can for the match against Liverpool,” Arteta concluded.