Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta has provided updates on possible injuries of two Gunners stars during their Premier League match against Liverpool. Both Bukayo Saka and Oleksandr Zinchenko came off in the second half of the game and were replaced by Reiss Nelson and Jakub Kiwior respectively.
Allaying the fears of Arsenal fans, Arteta said Saka should be fine despite getting substituted. He said (via GOAL):
“He should be fine. He got a kick I think on the ankle or on the back of his foot, but he should be fine.”
The Gunners star scored the opener of the night in the 14th minute after Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker stopped Kai Havertz one-on-one. The ball fell kindly to Saka, who made no mistake to score his eighth goal of the season. He now has 11 goals and 13 assists in 30 games for the Gunners in the 2023-24 campaign.
As for Zinchenko, Arteta had a more worrisome update, saying (via GOAL):
“With Alex (Zinchenko), we don’t know. He had this feeling in his calf again and we had to take him off.”
The Ukrainian full-back has missed four games for the Gunners this season with a small relapse of the same injury, first occurring back in September 2022 (calf muscle tear and then recurrent calf muscle issue – this season).
Arsenal beat Liverpool to re-announce their arrival in the title race
Arsenal beat Liverpool 3-1 at the Emirates on February 4 to go within two points of the league leaders after 23 games. The Gunners, now in second place, have 49 points to Liverpool’s 51. Manchester City are third with 46 points after 21 games and could overtake them both if they win the games in hand.
Arsenal opened the scoring with Bukayo Saka in the first half before a defensive mishap allowed the Reds to equalize at the stroke of half-time (Gabriel Magalhaes own goal).
The Gunners restored their lead with a defensive mix-up by Liverpool in the 67th minute, which allowed Gabriel Martinelli to strike the ball into an empty net. Leandro Trossard put the game to bed with a smart finish in the 92nd minute to hand Arsenal a 3-1 win on the night.
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