Mikel Arteta faces multiple injury concerns ahead of Arsenal’s Premier League clash against Wolves on Saturday, with several key players absent from training
Mikel Arteta and his Arsenal squad hit the training ground on Friday, gearing up for their Premier League showdown against Wolves. With a tight schedule between their Champions League match in Belgium on Wednesday and this weekend’s fixture at Emirates Stadium, the Gunners are likely to have just one full session at London Colney.
Injuries were the hot topic at Arteta’s press conference on Friday, with concerns over Leandro Trossard, William Saliba, Declan Rice and Jurrien Timber. The latter two featured in the loss to Aston Villa but were ruled out for the Club Brugge match a few days later.
Saliba has been absent from both of those games and the two prior, while Trossard has clocked up only 78 minutes in Arsenal’s last five matches. A potential new injury worry has also surfaced from training that could significantly disrupt Arteta’s plans.
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With all these factors in mind, Mirror sport has compiled all the key observations from the Gunners’ training session ahead of the Wolves clash.
No sign of Rice and Timber
As expected, neither Rice nor Timber appeared in any of the 35 photos uploaded to Arsenal’s official website on Friday evening.
Regardless of whether the pair actually participated in the session, it would be anticipated that no images featuring either player would be shared to keep Wolves in the dark.
Arsenal’s Saturday evening fixture means there is less time between the match and Arteta’s “wait and see” update on both. Given the opposition, the Gunners could certainly secure the three points without them, but Arteta would prefer to have the duo and the midweek break afterwards seemingly enhances their chances of featuring.
Saliba and Trossard also missing
Arteta stating that Trossard and Saliba returning would be a matter of days made it no surprise when neither of those players were spotted out on the training pitch.
Given the action, and likely training sessions, both have missed over the last few weeks, it is hard to foresee either having a prominent role on Saturday evening. An appearance on the bench is certainly possible, though.
New injury concern
Ben White was also not seen in training photos posted on Friday. The right-back has been compelled to play more than Arteta probably would have liked due to injuries.
Just under half of his minutes this season have come in the last three games with it very likely that his load is being managed between games, which could be an explanation for his potential absence from training. It is worth noting that he could have still participated, but just not been photographed.
Calafiori boost
Injury problems have ruled three Arsenal stars out of the clash against Wolves, but there is another key player in Riccardo Calafiori that is unavailable.
The Italian international is serving a suspension after receiving his fifth yellow card of the season last weekend. Given this, it was surprising not to see him in the starting line-up in Belgium.
It was later disclosed that this was due to a minor problem he picked up against Villa. Therefore, seeing him in the most recent batch of Arsenal training photos would have arrived as a big boost.
