Arsenal seven-man injury crisis could hand Liverpool real title opening | OneFootball

Arsenal’s injury woes could present Liverpool with a golden opportunity in our title push, with up to seven players said to be missing this weekend.

Arsenal injury crisis could swing advantage to Liverpool

(Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

Mikel Arteta has confirmed that several key Arsenal players are still sidelined, raising the possibility that our rivals’ front line may struggle to keep pace with us.

On Gabriel Jesus, the Spaniard admitted (via premierinjuries.com): “It’s about making the steps day-by-day in a different surrounding.

“He’s been doing everything on his own; now he’s got very competitive players around him, and let’s see how he copes with that. But he’s full of energy.”

The Brazilian striker is far from the only concern. Martin Odegaard has also been ruled out: “It is going in a steady direction, but he is some distance away.”

Kai Havertz’s situation is equally fragile: “Let’s see how he absorbs the load first when he starts to train with us, and when he’s done that, obviously we’re going to have to, especially in the first few weeks, keep an eye on him to manage the amount of minutes and when we play him.”

Arsenal’s winger depth is also suffering. Arteta said of Gabriel Martinelli, Viktor Gyokeres and Chukwunonso Madueke before the international break: “I cannot confirm all of [them are out this weekend], but you are not far off. Some of them, all of them, [could be available after the break], I don’t know.

“There are a lot of things that have to happen in the next two weeks, and everything has to be perfect, but I think we’ll be very close.”

Defensively, their issues are compounded by Gabriel Magalhaes’ uncertain return, whom the injury website has only handed him a 25% chance of coming back soon.

Why this matters for Liverpool’s title challenge

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For us, Arsenal’s injury crisis presents a potentially decisive window. While they battle fitness issues, Liverpool can exploit a softer schedule and push to close the gap.

Liverpool have an injury boost of our own with Alisson set to be back in contention and updates being provided this week on Jeremie Frimpong, Stefan Bajectic and Jayden Danns.

Our own form has wavered but if the Gunners are weakened, it could allow us to mount sustained pressure over the Christmas period — when games come thick and fast.

This is especially important given the upcoming fixtures: we’ve already faced many of the top six and with this being the longest run without an international break, the timing couldn’t be more favourable.

If we hit form now, we could be perfectly placed to make a serious title surge.

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