成人快手

Arsenal have will to win - but Liverpool a huge test for injury-hit squad

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Arsenal have shown they have the mentality to bounce back from setbacks after they beat Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League following their Premier League loss at Bournemouth.

The Gunners did not put in their best performance of the season but managed to find a way to get a crucial three points which put them in the strong position in the Champions League table.

However, injury issues are starting to mount.

Mikel Arteta was already without Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka, arguably the two most important players in his Arsenal side.

Jurrien Timber, who has shown his quality in his performances this season, is struggling for fitness as he tries to get back to 100% after missing the majority of last season with a knee injury.

Against Shakhtar, Riccardo Calafiori was the latest player to go down with an injury and Arteta described that as "not great news".

Arsenal are hoping to challenge for the title for the third season in a row, but if they cannot get their squad fit then eventually it will catch up with them.

Oleksandr Zinchenko is another player who has struggled for fitness, and academy graduate Myles Lewis-Skelly came on ahead of him at left-back on Tuesday.

Arteta will have to think of a gameplan to contain a Liverpool side who are full of confidence and top of the Premier League table going into this weekend's fixtures.

Perhaps it will be time to start highly rated youngster Ethan Nwaneri, but Arteta prides himself on Arsenal being solid and, at the moment, his main backline is depleted.

William Saliba is suspended for the match on Sunday and the possibility of being without Calafiori with Timber means it is going to be a huge challenge for the Gunners to get a result.