Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher is “not falling for” Arsenal’s injury crisis ahead of their clash with Liverpool.
The Gunners are set to be without injured quartet Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori when they welcome Liverpool to the Emirates on Sunday. They will also be without William Saliba, who was sent off in their 2-0 defeat to Bournemouth last weekend.
With Arsenal having dropped points to Bournemouth, the game against Liverpool is almost a must win, despite the Premier League season only being eight rounds into the 2024/25 campaign. Should Liverpool, who sit top of the table, beat Arsenal on Sunday, then they will open up a seven point gap between themselves and Mikel Arteta’s side.
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However, speaking on Sky Sports’ Friday Night Football, Carragher has claimed Arsenal needs to deal with their absences like any other club would. Carragher said: “People will say Arsenal don’t have the squad. But I don’t think anyone’s got the squad when your best players are missing.
“Liverpool can’t replace Virgil van Dijk, that’s Saliba for Arsenal. That’s something you’ve got to deal with. We’ve all been there as players, you’ve got to fight and they’re going to need the crowd to maybe try and get them over the line.
“I saw on Sky Sports News today that five or six players haven’t trained but I’m not falling for it! They’re definitely in the gym and they come out when the cameras gone. I’ve seen all that one before. I’m not falling for it so hopefully Arne Slot and the Liverpool team are not falling for that as well.”
Host Kelly Cates then interjected: “It is confirmed that William Saliba is out [due to suspension]”, to which Carragher replied: “They’ve got that one but I’m not having any others.”
