Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has enjoyed a full week of training at London Colney ahead of a huge clash against Liverpool. The Gunners have been busy throughout the early months of the season because of their return to Champions League action with a spot in the last-16 stage secured after the dominant 6-0 win against RC Lens.
An increase in games has led to an increase in injuries, especially in the full-back position. August saw a serious muscular injury for Jurrien Timber, with appropriate replacements Takehiro Tomiyasu and Thomas Partey are also nursing injuries.
Fortunately, other than minor issues with Jorginho and Mohamed Elneny—both of whom could make a comeback against Liverpool—no significant new concerns have surfaced. Having said that, football.london has examined the last batch of training photos that Arsenal uploaded to their official website prior to a crucial match against Liverpool.
Injury return
Arteta was able to welcome back a key midfielder to Arsenal training after what looked to be a major injury blow turned out to be minor. Mohamed Elneny started made his first start of the season against PSV in the Champions League but he left the field clutching his hamstring just past the hour mark.
Ahead of Friday’s session, Arteta revealed: “Mo Elneny hopefully will train with us today.” Following the release of the latest training pictures, Elneny was spotted partaking in the team sessions and he could therefore be named in the matchday squad to take on Liverpool.
New look for Saka
Bukayo Saka has followed the pathway of Ben White as seen in Arsenal training ahead of Liverpool. Earlier this season, cameras at London Colney captured White with an interesting new hair colour that appeared to be, ironically, White.
New training pictures have now shown that Saka has dyed the tips of his hair blonde. White’s significant change came in the lead up to a clash against Chelsea which Arsenal drew 2-2 and a similar result could certainly occur this weekend at Anfield.
Rice stun
The impact Declan Rice has had at Arsenal is certainly quite stunning, despite his £105million price tag, with the player himself surprised by something in training on Friday. The 24-year-old has started every Premier League game this season and that will almost certainly continue against Liverpool.
With his team-mates, it seems as though his impact on the training pitch is also clear to see. Rice was pictured with Aaron Ramsdale and Bukayo Saka among others as part of the winning team photo. While many of the stars smiled, Rice was left with his hands on his head as Oleksandr Zinchenko photo-bombed the picture.
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