HUGE BLOW : five senior players could miss Liverpool vs Arsenal after Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard injury updates

HUGE BLOW : Six players could miss Liverpool vs Arsenal after Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard injury updates

Arsenal and Liverpool are both dealing with injury problems ahead of their Premier League clash on Sunday afternoon

Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard could both miss Arsenal vs Liverpool through injury(Image: (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images))

Arsenal and Liverpool have thus far been handed very different injury worries ahead of their massive Premier League showdown on Sunday afternoon.

The two title contenders have also endured contrasting starts to the campaign, with the champions requiring dramatic late goals to secure victories in thrilling encounters whilst the Gunners have kept clean sheets in both their triumphs.

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Jeremie Frimpong and Alexis Mac Allister both missed their latest win at St James’ Park and against Newcastle and while the former is expected to remain unavailable until after the international break, Slot suggested it is more than possible the Argentine returns this weekend when providing a broader squad fitness assessment.

“I think the positive is [Conor] Bradley has trained the whole week. Mac Allister started training again. So no injuries. Virgil [Van Dijk] is also OK,” he said.

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The captain endured a dangerous challenge from Anthony Gordon, who received a red card for the incident, whilst Bradley entered the action for the closing 10 minutes having not appeared since late July.

Liverpool certainly appear have no more than a few injury concerns, but the same cannot be said for their weekend opponents.

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During the 5-0 victory over Leeds United last weekend, Mikel Arteta saw both Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard pick up week that both problems are not as severe as initially thought, and whilst Arteta has confirmed Saka will certainly miss the journey to Anfield with a hamstring problem, there is one encouraging sign for Arsenal.

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“No, no surgery,” he said regarding Saka during his Friday press conference. “It’s not as bad as the previous one. Obviously, very unfortunate to kick it off, he’s on the other side.

“It’s an action that requires full power from him. Then he clashed with the opponent, he needs to change pace again. And he felt something, so it will be out for a couple of weeks.”

Odegaard meanwhile, sustained a shoulder injury with a swift comeback far more probable, though the Gunners manager was unable to confirm whether he would be available for this weekend’s fixture. “We don’t know yet,” he admitted on Odegaard.

“He hasn’t trained yet. And if he does, it will be tomorrow. He’s doing everything he can, we’re doing everything that we can to make him available, but we’ll have to wait and see tomorrow.”

The outlook on Kai Havertz is far more concerning though, with the club confirming on Thursday evening that he’s had surgery to fix a minor knee issue.

“I think it will be weeks, but I don’t know how many months,” Arteta revealed. “Very unfortunate, very sad for him. I think he did tremendously well to recover from the previous one. He’s never had an injury before. And suddenly this happens, but this is our profession, our football. We need to live with that.

“Obviously, we lose another big player for many, many weeks. But it was the right thing to do. The doctors advised and I think he was very convinced at the end that it was the quickest and the best way to resolve that issue.”

Ben White and Christian Norgaard have also been sidelined already, with Arteta slightly more hopeful about the pair potentially making a comeback.

“So that’s another two that we don’t know yet,” he said. “Again tomorrow we have another day, let’s see how they evolve. And this is a chance to keep them involved in the game.”

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Transfer deadline day is almost upon us and Liverpool still have business to do. It’s already been a busy summer for the Premier League champions but they could still pull off a couple of blockbuster signings as the window comes to a close.

Alexander Isak’s future remains unresolved, with the striker refusing to play or train for Newcastle United. Liverpool remain interested in a deal for the Swede.

Meanwhile, Marc Guehi has been a player of interest all summer and Liverpool could still launch a last-minute deal for the Crystal Palace defender.

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