Arsenal have been decimated by injury ahead of their crucial match against Liverpool, who have their own problems but nothing close to as damaging.
This is a ranking of the 12 players with known injuries by how much of a blow their absence will be, from smallest to biggest.
12) Kieran Tierney
There is an alternate timeline in which Tierney is the captain of an Arsenal side in the Europa Conference League under Jack Wilshere. But he can count himself among the many who have sustained collateral damage on this sharp rise inspired by Mikel Arteta largely being quite weird.
Only eight players have made more appearances under the Spaniard. Six of those remain crucial cogs in the machine, while Eddie Nketiah and Granit Xhaka were shifted on for considerable sums. Tierney is the outlier, a straggler on this journey.
His last Arsenal game came in May 2023 and his most recent start in a Premier League win was against West Ham the previous Boxing Day. It would be a vague surprise if Arteta was even aware Tierney was injured.
11) Federico Chiesa
Described as ‘a pointless and desperate’ Liverpool signing long before making one substitute cameo each in Premier League and Champions League games the Reds had already comfortably won, while being substituted before the hour in his only start in the League Cup, Chiesa’s early struggles were entirely predictable.
Arne Slot recently cited his lack of a pre-season and the increase in “intensity” as reasons behind the Italian failing to match the “levels the rest of the team is at at the moment”. And for the Premier League leaders with a perfect record in Europe, they are certainly high.
Liverpool are hardly missing a player who has failed to make six of a possible ten matchday squads, even if he does have more assists this season than Antony.
10) Conor Bradley
Despite featuring in the first four games of this Premier League managerial start which has been demonstrably worse than that of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, right-back Bradley has not been seen outside of a League Cup start and five minutes in the Champions League against Bologna since the loss to Nottingham Forest in September.
There is no suggestion of any problems between player and manager, of course; Bradley was a valued member of the squad until he sustained an injury on international duty, his only real crime is not being Trent Alexander-Arnold.
9) Takehiro Tomiyasu
Perhaps no player has ever been better at being persistently unavailable when his club most need him. Tomiyasu has developed an uncanny knack of kickstarting Arsenal injury crises he would be an ideal solution for.
The Japan international was absent for much of the Spring 2022 run in which Arsenal’s Champions League push disintegrated. He was taken off before William Saliba in the Europa League game against Sporting which still gives supporters sleepless nights. He missed almost all of December 2023, the month which ultimately cost the Gunners the title.
Tomiyasu has missed 56 games for club and country since joining Arsenal. Arteta’s recent message summed up the general frustration: “We really need him. He’s got something else again.”
8) Harvey Elliott
Those seven minutes against Brentford were a tantalising glimpse into one of the last few unknown quantities of Slot’s Liverpool. The thought of Elliott switching seamlessly between control and drive in midfield, or playing further forward as a creative force stitching together the attack, is enticing but it remains a thought for now.
The foot break came just as the opportunities were about to emerge in a packed schedule. Elliott’s 120 appearances for Liverpool include only 65 starts so the 21-year-old can have little doubt as to what the next step is in his development at Anfield when he returns; the hope is that these setbacks only delay the process of establishing himself in the side rather than undermining it entirely.
7) Jurrien Timber
There is a chance Timber features at the Emirates on Sunday and an argument that he could start in any position across the defence. The same versatility which will apparently “harm” his Arsenal career is the very same trait Arteta signed him for.
Timber has already played on the left and right so far this season and is an option to fill a rare central vacancy too. But considering the amount of time he spent side-lined last campaign, there will be a reluctance to rush the Dutchman back too soon.
In ordinary circumstances Arsenal would be able to take their time and bring Timber back in slowly. Their wider selection issues mean Arteta’s pre-Shakhtar assessment that “he’s going to be close” can perhaps be roughly translated to: ‘We’ll wheel him out regardless because Oleksandr Zinchenko against Mo Salah cannot be allowed to happen again.’
6) Alisson
While the absence of Alisson was once inconceivable, Liverpool fans have had ample chance to acquaint themselves with the concept recently and Caoimhin Kelleher has maximised the subsequent opportunities.
Not since February 2021 have Liverpool lost a Premier League game Alisson has missed. That 1-0 defeat at home to Brighton remains the only loss of Kelleher’s 17-game Premier League career. Earlier that season, it was Adrian who filled in for the Reds’ No. 1; the result was a 7-2 win for Aston Villa.
Kelleher has been able to establish himself as a phenomenal back-up but also just an excellent keeper in his own right, who quite justifiably would rather leave in search of minutes than warm the bench waiting for injuries to open the door. Alisson’s increasing frailty has merged those factors again.
5) Riccardo Calafiori
So immediately ingrained in the Arsenal culture is Calafiori that he surrendered himself to the club’s trademark full-back knee injury even when he seemed to be thriving.
Gabriel Martinelli has not been so effective for some time and even Thomas Partey looked more comfortable in his midfield role, both players benefiting from the defensive solidity, technical ability and tireless running of a gloriously rounded left-back.
But the Italy international “felt something” against Shakhtar and while Arsenal will wait for a more official prognosis than Arteta’s “not great news” following further scans, they might err on the side of caution.
4) Diogo Jota
One can only assume Jota has a bright future as a Sky Sports pundit because his tracing of Daniel Sturridge’s Liverpool career footsteps has been immaculate. The Portuguese has 60 goals in 155 appearances for the Reds, giving him time to catch his predecessor’s 67 goals in 160 games.
But the injury record is where the comparison between two wonderful finishers really hits home. While Sturridge’s sheer numbers and volume in that regard are difficult to replicate, Jota can’t be faulted for his efforts. Since moving to Anfield his injury list has been a slightly less catchy and more depressing nursery rhyme: knee, foot, ankle, hamstring, calf, muscle, knee, hip, chest.
Frustrating as it is for Liverpool, they are at least used to the concept of doing without him.
MORE LIVERPOOL COVERAGE FROM F365
👉 Arne Slot’s no-frills Liverpool beat RB Leipzig in display to make Jurgen Klopp shudder
👉 Premier League ‘Big Eight’ ranked by injury woes with Arsenal top and Liverpool bottom
3) Martin Odegaard
Before this season, Odegaard had missed just 11 games since joining Arsenal permanently in summer 2021. The Gunners won seven, drew two and lost two of those matches, many of which admittedly came in the early rounds of domestic cups or relatively low-stakes European games.
Arsenal have been without their captain for nine games this campaign and while it has not been seamless, Arteta had found a way to help his side cope until more cards were removed from the deck. They will welcome him back with open arms next month, albeit not as much as if he could put a shift in at full-back.
2) Bukayo Saka
The main reason Arsenal were able to absorb the loss of Odegaard was the form of Saka. Having already burst out of the blocks to start the season, the England international embraced the added responsibility and thrived under it.
Even having missed the defeat to Bournemouth, Saka’s creative numbers are among the best in Europe and his output is at the same sort of ludicrously elite level his availability was before England borrowed him once too often. There is a surprise suggestion he could return at the Emirates and he is the best and most irreplaceable player in this Arsenal team.
1) William Saliba
But beyond individuals, the Arsenal component truly without parallel is the central defence. Take either Saliba or Gabriel out of this team and strength quickly resembles weakness.
This is not the Arsenal team which revealed Rob Holding when scratching just beneath the surface; Arteta has focused on recruiting defensive depth in recent years to safeguard against the sort of collapse which followed Saliba’s injury in March 2023.
But the 11-game stretch at the end of that season, when Arsenal won five games, drew three, lost three and surrendered a five-point lead over Manchester City, remains the only time Saliba has actually been out since breaking into the starting line-up. His suspension puts the Gunners in the sort of unchartered waters they drowned in across an hour against Bournemouth, even if just for a single game.
