Mikel Arteta admits he is concerned about an injury which robbed him of defensive linchpin Gabriel Magalhaes for much of the second half in Sunday’s 2-2 Premier League draw against Liverpool.
Already without the suspended William Saliba, the Gunners lost the Brazil international early in the second period with what looked like a knee injury he picked up after a collision with Darwin Nunez.
Mikel Arteta’s frustration was compounded after Jurrien Timber, only just back from injury, failed to complete the match and Arsenal’s makeshift defence was punished with nine minutes remaining when Mohamed Salah pounced to score a deserved equaliser.
‘I don’t know but he could not run that’s what he said straight away,’ said the Arsenal manager when asked for anupdate on the centre-half. ‘I don’t know what happened, I don’t know if it’s the knee joint or the ankle.
‘They are assessing him now,’ he added while touching wood.’
‘We’ve done everything we possibly could to accelerate that process and he was so willing,’ said Arteta, meanwhile, when asked if took a risk with Timber who was seen with an ice pack on his knee after he had been forced off.
‘The medical staff has done amazing work and we gave ourselves the chance to compete. I don’t know the extent of the injury, the same with big Gabi.’
Despite the upheaval, Arsenal put themselves in with a strong chance of winning the game and Arteta was disappointed his players were unable to finish the job and haul themselves closer to the leaders in the Premier League table.
‘Really disappointing not to win it because when you look at the chances, we should have won the game,’ he said.
‘The team played so well, we were dominant and very determined. Really aggressive and played in the right areas to create some big chances.
‘We are open in transition for the second goal. Against this team, you cannot do that if you want to win the game.
‘It is what it is at the moment. The backline is completely different to what we’re used to. We should have won the game.’
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