Mikel Arteta has provided an update on Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori ahead of Arsenal’s clash against Club Brugge in the UEFA Champions League. The duo were two of five changes to the starting lineup that lost 2-1 to Aston Villa at the weekend.
Timber travelled to Belgium, but he was left out of the matchday squad, while Calafiori was dropped to the bench. Christian Norgaard, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Noni Madueke, Gabriel Martinelli, and Viktor Gyokeres replaced Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, and Eberechi Eze, as well as the two defenders.
Speaking on TNT Sports ahead of the game, the Gunners boss said: “They both had issues on the weekend, two really bad kicks. For Jurrien, it was too early, and for Ricci, we have to manage to see if he can do some minutes [tonight].”
Saka and Eze were named on the bench, but Rice was left at home. Speaking to reporters at the Sobha Realty Training Centre on Tuesday, Arteta confirmed that the former West Ham captain, William Saliba, and Leandro Trossard would be unavailable for selection.
“No, so Declan was ill,” said the Arsenal boss. “He was quite sick after the game, and he hasn’t travelled with us. William is still not available, and Leo again picked another knock in an area where he had the issue, and I don’t expect that it’s going to be long, but unfortunately, he cannot be here.”
Arteta also provided an update on Max Dowman, who was replaced by Gabriel Jesus on the team sheet. The Spaniard said: “Yes, so first of all, unfortunately, Max picked up an injury last weekend and had to come off.
“So he did some scans, and he is going to be out for weeks, and then we have the situation of Gabi [Jesus], who we were expecting to be training with us by the end of December. Gabi has been pushing every single day, and he kept telling everybody, ‘I am going to be earlier, earlier, earlier,’ and he has done it.
“So thanks to his work and all the work that the medical staff have done in all these months, and we had the possibility to make a swap there, and we have done it.
“Yes, on one side, you see Max and the situation, and on the other, you see the joy and how happy Gabi is to be back in the Champions League.”
On how frustrating the injuries are, Arteta said: “I mean, losing Max again, it’s obviously not ideal with Leo, who is just coming back, that we have to manage the minutes. Willy is still not there.
“We’ve not got Big Gabi, and we have other players that they could only play certain minutes. Like, for example, Riccy [Calafiori] the other day. But it’s a situation that we have managed since the beginning of the season.
“We are in December, so it’s been almost five months in a remarkable way, and we’re going to continue,” added the Arsenal boss. “Not training, no, because we don’t have time to train.
“So, training is not there. But obviously, the fact that you are missing players, you are loading other players more. That’s a consequence of that and it’s a really dangerous.
“The fact that we have some others who have long-term contracts that haven’t been with us since the beginning of the season. But, yeah, it’s a test for the team, and so far, we have reacted very, very well to that.”
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