Bukayo Saka has returned to training for Arsenal ahead of their showdown with Premier League leaders Liverpool, live on Sky Sports on Super Sunday.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta insisted the 23-year-old still has to prove his match fitness as he recovers from an injury picked up on international duty but his comments raise hopes of a return.
The Gunners will be without the suspended William Saliba for the visit of Liverpool, while Martin Odegaard is injured, but Arteta refused to rule out Riccardo Calafiori or Jurrien Timber.
“He has done a bit of training on the grass,” Arteta said of Saka at his pre-match press conference on Friday.
“How far we can get him to Sunday, that’s a different question. We have another day, which is a good thing.”
Defender Calafiori added to Arsenal’s availability issues when he had to be substituted after jarring his knee during Tuesday’s Champions League win over Shakhtar Donetsk.
“He needs some more tests,” said Arteta. “He had some yesterday, today he’s going to have some more and from there we will know.
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“Last time, we thought it was really bad and he ended up playing two or three days after, so let’s see.
“We are going to do our very best to somehow have them available, but it’s very, very uncertain.”
On Timber, who has not featured since before the international break, Arteta added: “He has had the first session he could have some involvement with.
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“He has been out for a while. We expected him to be further back than where he is at the moment, but again we have to wait and see.”
In addition to captain Odegaard, Arsenal are also without Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney due to injuries, while Oleksandr Zinchenko is yet to feature since recovering from a calf problem.
‘We can’t feel sorry for ourselves’
Saliba’s suspension is a particularly significant blow, with the French international have started every Premier League game since the start of last season.
His absence, coupled with doubts over others, leaves Arteta with a headache over how he configures his back-line, and who partners Gabriel Magalhaes at centre-back.
“We have different options, players that already played there before,” he said.
“It’s true that that partnership has been very stable. He’s played every single minute and is now not available.
“We have to find a different solution which is something that, as a team, we need to be good at.
“We had so much going on, especially in the backline, for the first few months of the season.
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“We had to adapt to that, that’s why we have some versatile players that have been really helpful.
“Ideally, we would have other options as well and more consistency, but that’s the situation we have at the moment.”
Defeat to Liverpool would leave Arsenal seven points off the pace after nine games but Arteta has urged his players not to feel sorry for themselves despite a wave of injuries and suspensions in the early months of the campaign.
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“This is a game. Obviously we didn’t want to be in that situation, but we are really lucky to have the players that we have, to have the squad that we have, to have the attitude that we have.
“When it comes down to reacting to a difficult situation, we don’t feel sorry for ourselves – face it.
“We are a team that know how good we are and how difficult we can be for opponents.
“Having that ruthless mentality is something that I love.”
Watch Arsenal vs Liverpool live on Sky Sports Premier League from 4pm on Sunday; kick-off 4.30pm
