Arsenal: Key trio sidelined but Mikel Arteta has selection headache ahead of Liverpool trip | OneFootball

The Gunners travel to the Premier League champions in their stiffest test of the new season so far

Plenty to ponder: Mikel Arteta

Arsenal FC via Getty Images

Your matchday briefing on Arsenal, featuring team news and expert analysis from Simon Collings

Sign up

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

The Gunners have brought in seven signings for an outlay of £250million, with an eighth possibly arriving if Bayer Leverkusen defender Piero Hincapie joins.

The end result is that Arteta has a wealth of depth available to him, both in attack and defence.

Saka is missing this trip due to a hamstring injury, but Arteta can call upon Ethan Nwaneri, Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard, Noni Madueke or even, perhaps towards the end of the game, Max Dowman.

Havertz will be absent due to knee surgery on Thursday, however Viktor Gyokeres is there to lead the line, with Mikel Merino or Trossard offering alternatives.

If Odegaard does not recover from a shoulder injury in time, then new signing Eberechi Eze can start. Alternatively, Merino or Nwaneri can fill in for the Arsenal captain.

Such strength in numbers makes it hard to predict what Arteta will do, which is precisely the unpredictability he wants opposition managers to face.

“The more they have to adapt and find solutions and prepare things, the busier they’re going to be with us - and that’s a very positive thing,” said Arteta.

What Arteta decides to do will be telling, primarily because it will give us an indication of how he sees this Arsenal team evolving.

In the past, perhaps even last season, it would have been easier to predict how Arsenal would set up at Anfield.

Arteta has shown a willingness to lock down games, especially with Odegaard out, by using a 4-2-2-2 formation.

The team essentially operates without a playmaker and that could easily happen again, with a midfield of Declan Rice, Martin Zubimendi and Merino on offer.

The difference now, however, is that Arteta has the choice to go for the jugular, instead of keeping things tight.

Odegaard can be replaced by Eze or Nwaneri, while Arteta could even play the two together.

Last season, Nwaneri had limited game time as a No8, despite Odegaard being out for three months with an ankle injury.

That has changed now, though, and against Leeds last weekend, Nwaneri was brought on when Odegaard was forced off.

If Arteta wants to be bold, he could play Nwaneri in the absence of Odegaard - and use Eze on the left flank.

That would represent a seismic shift from how Arsenal usually play, and there is an argument for keeping the midfield compact and leaning on Martinelli’s pace out wide.

Martinelli thrives in space and has a fine record against Liverpool, scoring six times against them - more than against any other side.

“Gabi has been a super important player for us and he’s going to remain very, very, very important,” said Arteta on Friday.

“Every opponent is going to require different things and then the state, the moment, the way that those players are impacting the game - that competition is needed.

“We have him in many other areas on the pitch and he's needed, especially in the front line, to start the game and to finish the game.”

There will, surely, be a temptation for Arteta to be bold as Arsenal look to win at Anfield for the first time in 13 years.

Liverpool’s defence has been shaky so far, already conceding four goals in two League games. It took them nine matches to ship that same amount last season.

Arsenal have the chance to lay down an early marker in the title race by winning at Anfield and, after a transfer window that has lifted the club, victory would generate huge momentum.

“Going to those grounds, those stadiums, against this kind of opposition is what we want and coming away from those big games, winning in a really convincing way,” said Arteta.

“That’s the objective. We want to continue building the momentum that we are in right now.”

For Arsenal, winning at Anfield would be more than three points. It would be proof that this squad is ready to turn potential into prizes.