A round-up of the latest Arsenal news as Mikel Arteta issues an injury update ahead of facing Liverpool and Jamie Carragher makes a huge claim...
A round-up of the latest Arsenal news as Mikel Arteta issues an injury update ahead of facing Liverpool and Jamie Carragher makes a huge claim on the Premier League title.
Mikel Arteta issues an Arsenal injury update before facing Liverpool
The Gunners travel to Anfield this Saturday evening for a top-of-the-table contest to lead the Premier League at Christmas. But Arteta admits Jorginho remains ‘a doubt’ for the trip while the midfielder manages his foot injury. It initially sidelined him as Arsenal beat Brighton 2-0.
Jorginho could return to the Arsenal squad at Liverpool to ease Arteta’s injury problems. But Thomas Partey will remain out until the New Year along with Mohamed Elneny and Takehiro Tomiyasu. Arsenal hope to have the trio back when Liverpool visit in the FA Cup next month.
Arteta addressed Arsenal’s injury problems ahead of their trip to Liverpool this weekend and noted that Elneny is near to re-joining the first-team. But Partey is still training on his own at London Colney while he overcomes a thigh injury that ultimately needed a minor operation.
Read more about what Arteta has said about Arsenal’s injuries before facing Liverpool, here.
Jamie Carragher names the Liverpool player who would win Arsenal the Premier League
Liverpool legend Carragher believes Arsenal would win the Premier League title if they had Alisson Becker in their net. Arteta has firmly established David Raya as the Gunners’ No1 in recent months. But the 28-year-old goalkeeper does not bring Carragher much confidence.
Raya is still yet to prove he is an upgrade on Aaron Ramsdale since replacing the 25-year-old at Emirates Stadium. Through the Spaniard’s 12 Premier League appearances under Arteta, Raya has been at fault for goals conceded against Luton Town and is often nervy on the ball.
Now, Carragher believes Arsenal would be the clear favourites to win the Premier League if it was Alisson rather than Raya guarding the Gunners’ net. He believes the 31-year-old could earn Arteta’s side nine points on his own. He has five clean sheets in 15 fixtures this season.
“If Arsenal had Alisson Becker, they would be almost guaranteed a minimum of nine extra points, which would win them the title,” Carragher told The Telegraph.
Read more about what Carragher has had to say about Alisson, Arsenal and the title, here.
Arsenal want to sign a Ł20m striker ‘in the mould of Sergio Aguero’
Journalist Steve Kay claims Arsenal transfer target Marcos Leonardo is a striker ‘in the mould of Sergio Aguero’. He also believes the Santos star is someone who would interest Arteta. He rates the 20-year-old highly as the attacker is rapid, prolific and very promising with the ball.
Reports by 90min in November noted that Arsenal and Manchester United are on alert after Leonardo’s agent Rafaela Pimenta stated ‘the time has come’ for him to secure a transfer to Europe. The Gunners have also scouted the forward’s promising rise during recent months.
Santos would demand Ł20m to sell Leonardo in January having scored 21 and assisted four goals in 49 games during 2023. He even boasts 54 goals and 11 assists in 168 career senior matches. The Itapetinga-born talent enjoyed his first-team debut back in September 2020.
Leonardo will only join a team where he will receive enough recognition to make the Brazil squad for the Paris 2024 Olympics, though. The Santos product has already represented his nation at the Under-16, 20 and 21 levels. And his rise is leaving a huge impression on Kay.
“He’s a quality player – compared to Sergio Aguero, very similar sort of player,” Kay told The Arsenal Show. “He’d be someone of interest to Arteta. He’s very fast, he’s very quick, great ability on the ball [and is a] prolific goalscorer.
“[He is] in the mould of Sergio Aguero, personally someone I think would do very well at Arsenal. He’s only young. I think he’d cost around Ł15-20m. He will be an incredible addition to the squad and maybe they could still bring another striker in, it will be interesting to see.”
Read more about what Kay had to say about Arsenal transfer target Leonardo, here.
Paul Merson tips two Arsenal stars to ‘make it difficult’ for Liverpool
Gunners hero Paul Merson backs William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes to make it ‘difficult’ for Liverpool when Arsenal visit Anfield on Saturday. He believes the centre-backs will offer the Reds a problem, forcing Jurgen Klopp to deploy Darwin Nunez to utilise his physicality.
“Klopp has a few big selection calls to make,” Merson told Sportskeeda. “I think he is going to keep playing Darwin Nunez because you need to have height in the team.
“They will need to make their set-pieces count and it’s going to be difficult against the likes of William Saliba and Gabriel without a physical presence like Nunez.”
According to SofaScore, Gabriel (32, 65.3%) and Saliba (30, 56.6%) rank fourth and fifth in a combined table from Arsenal and Liverpool players for winning their aerial duels. Nunez (12, 35.2%) only ranks sixth for Liverpool alone with Virgil van Dijk (71, 79.9%) topping the chart.
Read more about what Merson said about Saliba and Gabriel for Arsenal at Liverpool, here.
