Mikel Arteta drops huge injury update on Odegaard and Saka ahead of Shakhtar clash
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has provided a huge injury update on three key players ahead of the Champions League clash against Shakhtar Donetsk at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners suffered their first defeat of the campaign against Bournemouth on Saturday. They had an underwhelming start and were handed a big disadvantage after William Saliba’s 30th minute red card.
Saliba is eligible to play against Shakhtar on Tuesday night, but it remains to be seen whether the club will make an appeal for his sending-off. He could miss the league game against Liverpool otherwise.
Meanwhile, Arteta has provided a fresh fitness update on Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka, who missed the recent trip to the South Coast with ankle and hamstring injuries respectively.
The Spaniard said that ‘they are closer’ and progressing well. However, Odegaard is unlikely to be involved tomorrow. Saka’s availability could be determined after today’s training session.
He told reporters (via football.london): “They are closer. Both progressing well. Martin not fit. With Bukayo let’s see how he is with the training session later on.”
The manager added that full-back Jurrien Timber will also be assessed in today’s team training.
He added: “I think it’s gonna be close. We’ll have to see how he deals with training with the whole group because he hasn’t done it yet.”
Arsenal have picked up four points from their opening two league games in the Champions League. They should be favourites to beat Shakhtar and need a strong response after Saturday’s 2-0 loss.
Saka’s presence would be a huge boost. If he is unfit to start, we would prefer Raheem Sterling to continue on the right wing.
The 29-year-old had more touches in the opposition box than any other Arsenal player despite being substituted early in the first half.
We would like to see Arteta go with Ethan Nwaneri in the number 10 role instead of Mikel Merino, who struggled on his full debut.
Merino is more of a defensive midfielder by trade and had a passing accuracy of less than 65% in the recent defeat to the Cherries.
