Mikel Arteta has revealed that three Arsenal players are uncertain for Sunday's match against Liverpool, adding to the fallout from a stunning Carabao Cup exit. Riccardo Calafiori, Noni Madueke and Declan Rice all missed Tuesday's penalty shootout loss to League Two side Fleetwood Town through injury.
Arsenal were eliminated by the fourth-tier club despite Arteta naming a strong starting lineup, with the Gunners' injury list already stretching thin. William Saliba, Bukayo Saka and Christos Tzolis remain sidelined long-term, while Max Dowman will also miss the weekend fixture after picking up a reckless red card in the Fleetwood defeat.
Explaining why the trio travelled instead to join the squad in London rather than making the trip to Lancashire for the cup tie, Arteta said: "Calafiori was out, Noni was out with an ankle, and Declan was feeling a problem the other day (against Everton), which is why I had to substitute him," as quoted by The Mirror.
Rice did take part in training with his teammates on Monday, giving Arteta hope that some or all of the three could be available for the journey to Anfield. The manager's immediate focus, though, was processing a cup exit he described as a "very sad day" for the club.
"First of all, congratulations to Fleetwood," Arteta said. "In the manner they did it, the atmosphere they created. I have nothing to fault the players for their attitude and intensity throughout the game, with 11 and with 10, but when you are playing in that superior way, you have to give nothing to the opponent."
He added: "When we create the volume of shots and chances we did, you have to score three, four, or five. You capitalize on it. If you don't, there are no margins, and that's the reality. Then you have to wait and get through the round on penalties, and we didn't do that. The probability was low with the way the game was panning out, but it's football and still with low probability, there is always a chance you could be out of the cup."
The defeat ends Arsenal's hopes of ending a 34-year wait to win the Carabao Cup before the competition even reached the quarter-final stage. Tzolis had already been ruled out of recent matches after suffering a hamstring injury on international duty with Greece, a issue first confirmed by Arteta earlier this month.
On the league front, Saturday's 2-0 win over Everton left Arsenal level on points with Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table. After facing Liverpool at Anfield, the Gunners continue their Champions League campaign away to Slavia Prague before hosting Hull City ahead of the November international break.
