Since Mikel Merino returned to action against Paris Saint-Germain in October, Arsenal’s injury woes have worsened.
Martin Odegaard has been missing since the September international break, Bukayo Saka missed a few games, Calafiori got injured in the Champions League and Tomiyasu has been out since the start of October.
Arsenal had to play Liverpool with Thomas Partey at Right Back, and rushed Jurrien Timber and Bukayo Saka from injury to play on Sunday.
The gunners drew the game, and felt they should have won. Bukayo Saka, who scored the opener, thinks Arsenal should have taken all three points.
Mohammed Salah scored a late winner as Liverpool escaped with a draw. After the game, Virgil Van Dijk said Liverpool were actually happy with the result:
“It’s a very tough place to come, obviously teams have noticed that over the years. They created a solid team and make it difficult for everyone.
“Obviously it was difficult for them as well. I think to come back twice is a good thing. We take the point and we move [forward], that’s the feeling now.”
Mikel Merino believes injuries should not be an excuse for Arsenal
Last week was a rollercoaster for the Gunners; a shock loss to Bournemouth, a narrow win over Shakhtar in the Champions League and an unfortunate draw against Liverpool.
In all these games, Arsenal have had key players out. But Mikel Merino says the gunners will not use the absences as an excuse for poor results:
“Injuries are part of the game and they cannot be an excuse for results,” Merino said.
“Injuries have pros and cons – one of the pros is that we are seeing young players make their debuts and be involved.
“As a club, you want to bring young players through from the academy, give them opportunities and you can see this is a club where everyone is able to do a really good job even though we don’t have important players like Martin [Ødegaard] available.”
Gunners midfielder calls for focus ahead of upcoming games
Arsenal have games against Newcastle United, Inter Milan and Chelsea over the next few weeks. Merino has urged his teammates to stay focused:
“The message is simple – this team is not going to lose their focus, it’s never going to give up no matter what the situation or what time of the year it is.
“The focus is to go 100% and learn from every game. We focus only on ourselves and what we can do to win every single game.
“We don’t look outside the team – in spite of this result, we don’t look too far ahead, we focus on the present. This is our mentality and it’s what will bring us success in the future.”