Salah, Chiesa, Jota - Liverpool injury news and return dates for Arsenal after Champions League
Mikel Arteta currently has his hands tied by a multitude of injury worries but Arne Slot and Liverpool also face being without a key set of players. Following matches in Europe for both teams this midweek, Sunday's Premier League title crunch match takes on a new light.
Arsenal are expecting to be missing Martin Odegaard and Kieran Tierney at a minimum with problems to be assessed for Bukayo Saka and Riccardo Calafiori. This is at least three starting players in Arteta's plans.
Although the Gunners got through Tuesday's home Champions League clash against Shakhtar Donetsk, it came at the expense of Calafiori. Arteta wasn't too confident that his defender would be involved come the visit of Liverpool either, with Saka still a doubt.
Initially it appeared that the England winger was being precautionarily left out, but he now hasn't played for over a week, missing three matches for club and country. The lack of travel compared to Liverpool, who were away in Germany on Wednesday, offers him an extra day to recover.
Arteta will hope this is the same for other members in his squad as Jurrien Timber also faces a fight to be fit. For Slot, the absentees are a bit more clear-cut.
Here, football.london has all the updates from the Liverpool treatment room ahead of the Arsenal clash after a 1-0 win over RB Leipzig.
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Mo Salah
Injury: N/A.
Salah was taken off against Leipzig with just over an hour played, replaced by Luis Diaz. With the game still in the balance, it raised concerns over his fitness.
What Slot said: "It is a tough fixture list. Curtis Jones was the same, he hasn’t played 90 minutes yet. We have some injuries now so I have to take care of the players. Sunday is a big game coming up and I need to use as many players as I can for these tough months."
Diogo Jota
Injury: Chest.
Jota was taken off against Chelsea after just half an hour and didn't make the match against Leipzig. He has suffered a host of injury issues in recent seasons.
What Slot said: "We all saw Diogo get a knock when he was trying to go towards goal and was brought down, that was not the biggest problem, but the other player fell on to him and that hurt so much that he couldn't he couldn't carry on and come with us now.
"It is difficult to judge at this moment of time to see how long it is going to take. Ribs? He felt somewhere over here, it is bruised I think, so we'll have to see how long it is going to take."
Federico Chiesa
Injury: Unknown.
The summer signing is struggling to adapt to new demands in England and is yet to hit full flow since arriving. He has a plagued injury record throughout his career.
What Slot said: "With Federico it's a bit more simple, although it is difficult, it is a bit more simple to explain. He missed pre-season, I said this many times, and going to a league that is a higher intensity than Serie A, we just faced two Italian teams so I can say this now.
"That makes it difficult for him to make the step towards the intensity levels to where the rest of the team is at the moment. It has not so much to do with the Italian league or the Premier League but so much to do with him missing the entire pre-season.
"So it is difficult for every player, when the games are constantly there, to build up players to the levels we are at. It's difficult to say but it is a big disappointment that he is going in and out of the training sessions all the time.
"So I feel sorry for him but he signed a long-term contract, so we will see what he brings for us. At the moment, unfortunately for us he has been in the team selection one or two times and no more than that."
Harvey Elliot
Injury: Foot.
Elliot has returned to individual training after a period out. He was unavailable against Leipzig, though, and didn't travel. He is a big doubt for the game at the Emirates Stadium.
What Slot said: "Harvey Elliott didn't make it....so that means we have a few issues at the moment."
Alisson Becker
Injury: Thigh.
The Reds' goalkeeper has been ruled out for a while following an injury picked up against Crystal Palace before the international break. He is unlikely to return before the November internationals.
What Slot said: "Alisson is for sure not with us in the upcoming weeks, that's clear. So, that's a blow for him and for us because I think he did really well this season and did so well for this club for so many years."
Connor Bradley
Injury: Unknown.
Bradley played both games for his country during the break but has picked up a knock along the way. He is expected to miss a few weeks whilst he recovers.
What Slot said: "It’s so difficult to see where they are after a few days, and I think after a few [more] days, you can better say where they are."