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Saka injury, Odegaard wait, Saliba ban - Arsenal absence verdict delivered ahead of Liverpool

Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta before the Premier League match between AFC Bournemouth and Arsenal FC at Vitality Stadium.
-Credit: (Image: David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)


Arsenal have been hit with more than their fair share of injuries over the season so far. Mikel Arteta will be left rueing the international breaks.

Club captain Martin Odegaard is still recovering from an injury he picked up in the September break while on international duty with Norway. This time around it was Bukayo Saka who picked up an injury while on duty for England.

The problem means he did not travel to the squad for the Premier League clash against Bournemouth at the weekend. Arsenal will be hoping that he can recover for next week’s key clash vs Liverpool, but Arteta did not seem hopeful when asked about his chances before the Gunners' Champions League win against Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday evening.

Both Odegaard and Saka are key players for Arsenal this season and are a big miss for Arteta. But the Gunners’ manager also spoke about the absence of full-back Jurrien Timber.

After returning from a long-term injury, and starting five of his last six games, he has been out since the start of October after being taken off at half time against Paris Saint-Germain.

A red card against Bournemouth means that defender William Saliba will now face a one-game suspension and to make matters worse, new signing Ricardo Calafiori hobbled off during Tuesday's Champions League fixture. It means that Arsenal face a possibility of facing Liverpool without five key players.

READ MORE: Arsenal vs Shakhtar Donetsk prediction and odds ahead of Champions League clash

READ MORE: Arsenal make final William Saliba red card appeal decision ahead of Liverpool clash

But who is the biggest miss for Arteta’s side? Our football.london writers have had their say.

Amie Wilson

Any team are going to struggle without their key players on the pitch, and it proved to be too much for the 10 men remaining after Saliba’s red card at Bournemouth. For me, I think that the absence of Bukayo Saka is the one that has/will hit Arsenal the hardest.

While Odegaard is captain, Arsenal have proved that they can cope when he’s absent over the last couple of months. It’s cliche but scoring goals is a difficult thing to do in the Premier League, even if you are challenging at the top of the table like Arsenal.

In his seven Premier League appearances, Saka has contributed nine goals (seven assists and two goals). Take that away from any team and it’s difficult to replace.

Saka’s reputation now has defenders scared even before a ball is kicked. So, while Sterling is still a good player to have in the squad and replace Saka, his confidence and understanding with his new teammates is still building, meaning he’s probably not going to be as effective as Saka.

If Arsenal can get the England man fit for the clash against Liverpool, then it would be a massive boost going into such a big game.

Jack Flintham

When you look at the current Arsenal team, only one area stands out as being significantly weaker due to the injuries in the squad. Midfield.

Thomas Partey is not the long-term future of this team and you have to feel that the Gunners will be a lot stronger when their captain Martin Odegaard is available. I think the Norwegian may also help to stem any possible issues the squad is currently facing with their discipline.

Odegaard is a calming presence in the centre of this team and I think without him, the Gunners look slightly disjointed. Fortunately, the midfielder will be back sooner rather than later and shall hopefully bring more stability to this current team.

Lee Wilmot

Arsenal have already proven they can cope without Martin Odegaard this season, which is saying something, given his influence on the team. Mikel Arteta has significantly improved options this season so that an injury crisis such as the one they are having right now is not impacting them as much as it has done previously.

Bukayo Saka is another matter entirely though. When things are tough, who do Arsenal fans look to? Saka. Despite his tender years, he is the Gunners' talisman. If you need a moment of magic, he is your man.

Yes Odegaard can produce a defence-splitting pass, but more often than not, Odegaard's magic requires an extra player to do something too, and then you're reliying on someone who might not be too reliable.

Saka is very reliable. He delivers time and time again. He is the biggest miss in the Arsenal camp for sure.

Tom Coley

Arsenal have dealt pretty well without Odegaard, which is a surprise as nobody naturally fits his spot in the team. As opposed to Saka, who has Raheem Sterling and Leandro Trossard, plus Gabriel Jesus if desperate, to cover, Odegaard is a unique part of the team.

But it has so far been without Saka that Arsenal look most alien. He is so consistent and grooved alongside Ben White on the right side that when they aren't together it throws the balance off kilter.

Replacing his positional awareness, not to mention ball skill, is practically impossible. Arsenal needed to try and find a closer match for him in the summer and failed. Sterling is nothing close and even Trossard, with a more measured approach, is stylistically too far removed for Arsenal to operate even close to the way they normally would with Saka.

Tom Canton

Luck. That's what Arsenal miss the most right now, forget who, think what, bring me some fortune ASAP please!

The injuries, the decisions, the fixture list, the timing of everything. Nothing about this season is giving me the feels right now and that is not a good place to be as it can sap away at the confidence Arsenal have given me after so many years.

The hope is Mikel Arteta was genuine when he spoke of Martin Odegaard being back within these games before the next international break. The lack of creativity has been a void in the side filled only truly by Bukayo Saka and then… guess what? He’s now out the side with injury.

We cannot catch a break and with Liverpool coming to town this weekend the Gunners need to find some quality back in the side. Saka certainly but after William Saliba found himself suspended, Jurrien Timber being ready would be truly beneficial.

Lose and that is a seven-point gap. Trying to find a way back from that so early in the season would be a real challenge, one Arteta would relish I am sure, but it's not one I’d like to experience.

Kieran Horn

Arsenal have lost numerous key players to injury already this season and there is a number of factors at play in determining the absence that has impacted Mikel Arteta the most.

Declan Rice and Ben White have each missed some action but the Gunners have handled those blows expertly. Though Martin Odegaard has not been able to feature in the last seven games, Arsenal have won five of those and also secured draws against Atalanta and Manchester City.

Interestingly, the game where Bukayo Saka could not make it, Arteta saw his side suffer their first defeat of the season. Jurrien Timber was also not involved at Vitality Stadium but his absence can be somewhat covered by White and vice versa.

For me, Odegaard is the star being missed the most for several reasons. Firstly, he is the captain and the absence of such a leader will always be a blow. Secondly, it is also important to see how Arsenal can replace him and there is honestly no one in the squad that can do Odegaard's job.

Though Saka is easily Arsenal's most important forward for goal contributions, Trossard, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Martinelli have all proved they are capable of scoring goals. From a creativity standpoint, Arteta desperately needs Odegaard back.

Matty Hewitt

Arsenal have shown that they can still rack up the points in Martin Odegaard's absence, but I think the loss of William Saliba will hit the Gunners the hardest. Of course, Mikel Arteta's side picked up their first defeat of the season with Bukayo Saka absent from the matchday squad at Bournemouth, but they have options on the flanks and scoring goals hasn't necessarily been their biggest issue.

Had Arsenal kept all 11 men on the pitch at the Vitality Stadium, I would have backed them to come away with all three points, even with Saka missing. Thankfully for Arsenal, it's only the clash with Liverpool that he'll miss, but it's their second biggest game of the campaign so far.

Saliba has added a steeliness to the Gunners backline over the past two seasons and I worry that the options outside of Arteta's so called strongest XI aren't quite at the level of the Frenchman. Which is worrying given the goal scoring form Liverpool find themselves in.

If Arsenal lose against Arne Slot's side, they'll be seven points adrift of top spot and it's an early mountain to climb.

Matthew Abbott

For as much as Arsenal missed Bukayo Saka at Bournemouth, being without William Saliba for the final hour of that match and the full 90 minutes against Liverpool could be their most significant absence yet. Jakub Kiwior was culpable for David Raya conceding the penalty that Justin Kluivet converted to double the deficit, with Mikel Arteta reacting by substituting the substitute a minute later.

The manager must hope Jurrien Timber will be available for the weekend's match, despite the defender not training on Monday before the midweek match against Shakhtar Donetsk. His return would assume that either Ben White or Riccardo Calafiori would come inside to partner Gabriel Magalhaes, but this is far from ideal and now the latter is an injury doubt himself.

No one needs reminding how much the Gunners have struggled in the past without Saliba, and dropping points against the Reds would represent at least five, if not six, in addition to the three lost on the south coast. That would leave Arsenal as many as seven points behind Arne Slot's side and six behind City after nine matches.

Of course, Saliba would then be back for their attempts to bridge their gap. However, overcoming such an obstacle while chasing two teams rather than one could be too much, even this early in the season.

Isaac Johnson

Overall, I think Martin Odegaard has to be the biggest miss because Arsenal do not have a direct replacement. Leandro Trossard can play there and Kai Havertz can also obviously drop back but its neither's current best position.

Odegaard adds an attacking control that would have seen the Gunners been able to sustain better pressure in the final third even with 10 men against Bournemouth, more so than Bukayo Saka would have. Without both, Arsenal barely threatened on Saturday evening.

Odegaard is also the captain, the voice who leads by example. Not having that presence is also regretful, albeit the team does have a number of leaders. But Odegaard always produces a 7/10 perfromance, at least, and that's that consistency the Gunners miss most.