Injury scare: Arteta expresses worry over Calafiori

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has expressed fears over defender Riccardo Calafiori’s fitness ahead of the Gunners’ important meeting with Liverpool on Sunday, although he assured his team “will be flying” against the Reds. The Italian limped off the pitch in Arsenal’s 1-0 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday. Arteta’s men continued their good form in Europe despite their crushing defeat in the Premier League last weekend. However, the scare over their prized summer acquisition who fell on his right leg and had to be brought off with 18 minutes on the clock is worrisome considering the long list of their players injured.
Arsenal paid £42 million to sign Calafiori from Bologna in the summer. Further assessments are set to be carried out on him in the coming days, although Arteta has conceded initial prognosis did not look promising. He said, “With Riccy he had to come off because he felt something. I don’t know the extent of it so in that sense not great news. He could not continue playing so, a bit of a worry.”
Arteta gave updates on the availability of other players, including Bukayo Saka who he ruled unlikely to be available for the game against Liverpool due to a hamstring issue. Martin Odegaard and Jurriën Timber are the other doubts for the Gunners.
The Spanish manager may have to deploy midfielder Thomas Partey at right back due to William Saliba’s suspension for the Liverpool game. Arteta had to take a precaution against another red card against Shakhtar by taking Ben White off at half-time. The defender had been booked in the 34th minute and risked a second booking if he remained in the game. Arteta explained, “Ben, it was my decision to take him out. He had a yellow card and we’ve played enough with 10 men in recent periods. They 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.”