Mikel Arteta sat down in front of the media for his pre-Liverpool press conference on Friday.
He was asked for the latest team news, his thoughts on Liverpool and more.
Here’s everything he had to say on the following subjects.
on Saka, Calafiori and Timber:
We’re going to do our very best to somehow have them available but it’s very uncertain.
on the extent of Calafiori’s injury:
He needs some more tests. Yesterday he had some, today he’s going to have some more and after that we will know. Last time we thought it was really bad and he ended up playing two or three days after, so let’s see how it is.
on if he will make Sunday’s game:
I said the last time it happened, but this time it might be different.
on if Saka has done any training:
Yes, he has done a bit of training on the grass. How far we can get him to Sunday, that’s a different question. We have another day, which is a good thing, but we’ll see.
on if Timber has trained:
Timber, again, it’s the first session that he could have some involvement. He’s 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.
on how to replace suspended Saliba:
Well we have different options, players that have already played there before. It’s true that that partnership has been very stable as you said, he’s played every single moment. He’s not available, we have to find a different solution which is something that, as a team, we need to be good at as well.
on whether we’ve done anything different ahead of Sunday:
Yes, obviously after the defeat with 10 men at Bournemouth we had to pick ourselves up. I think we started the game so well. At first it was really good and should have been very different with the scoreline. It wasn’t and in the end that left us feeling that it should’ve been more. They had a day off, two days to prepare again like we always do, and it’s a big match. We’re all excited about it, it’s a big opportunity. We love these kind of matches at the Emirates. We know what our people are going to generate and the team is really looking forward to it.
on what can give us the edge against Liverpool:
That things go our way, you know, and that we play the game that we want to play. That play with dominance. We’ve done it in the past, we’ve done it recently, and playing with that belief, energy and commitment that is necessary in a big match like this.
on what he’s seen from Arne Slot:
Yes, very good. They’re obviously in a really good moment, they’re on a great run and you can see the touch that he’s given to a team that was already very strong, but you can see his fingerprints on that team.
on the most dangerous thing about Liverpool:
It’s a team that, you know, for nine years has been competing on the highest level in every competition, so they know how to compete. They know how to threat you when the ball is really far, when the ball is in the outside unit especially. They have individual quality to damage you, they are good on set-pieces. It’s a team that for nine years consistently has been there. That means that they are really good at everything that they do.
on the strength in depth to deal with Saliba’s absence:
Yeah, well, obviously we had so much going on, especially in the backline. The first few months of the season, we had to adapt to that. That’s why we have as well, some versatile players that have been really, really helpful. But, yeah, ideally would have other options as well and more consistency, but that’s the situation that we have at the moment.
on if he feels hard done by to have so many injuries:
This is the game, you know, obviously, we didn’t want to be in that situation, but we are really lucky as well to have the squad that we have, to have the players that we have, to have the attitude that we have. When it comes down to reacting against a difficult situation and don’t feel sorry for ourselves, face it. We are a team that we know how good we are as well and how difficult we can be for the opponent. And having that ruthless mentality in the team is something that I love.
on if this game requires a different mentality:
Yeah, we’re always going to be ourselves, you know, in the things, in the identity that we have, in the game that we want to play, in how we’re going to approach the game to win it, that’s certainly not going to change. Then, obviously, you adapt and you make certain alterations to fit the quality of the players and put the players in the biggest strength, which is what we want to do.
on if Lewis-Skelly or Nwaneri could start on Sunday:
They are there, you know, they are in contention. They’re always giving us the option and the possibility to start the game. Myles came on the other night and he did really well, Ethan the same. So they’re first-team players, they’re with us and we treat them and we value in the same way as any other player.
