Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is dealing with a major selection crisis at the moment amid fears he will be unable to field a side against Liverpool and now he will be without Cedric Soares for the EFL Cup semi-final at the Emirates Stadium.
On Tuesday, we covered the news that Arsenal are concerned they will be unable to field a side in the second leg of the semi-final amid injury issues, AFCON absentees and Covid-19 cases.
The North London Derby was postponed despite the Gunners only having one Covid case at the time but Arteta’s plight is now starting to become a little clearer to understand from a rival fan’s perspective.
Takehiro Tomiyasu. who has been unbelievable for Arsenal this season and one of the main reasons for Arteta’s system taking off recently, is a major doubt for the game.
Now, according to Football.London, Cedric Soares is yet to return to training at Arsenal’s London Colney training base after picking up an injury in the first leg at Anfield.
He was substituted after 14 minutes and is now a major injury blow for Arteta.
The Portuguese fullback has pain in his hip and is a massive doubt to play as he is unable to run without pain and so cannot train as the Gunners prepare to face Liverpool and so Arsenal may face Jurgen Klopp’s men without a senior right-back and just one fully fit midfielder.
Liverpool have had squad selection issues of their own but their 3-0 win over Brentford in the Premier League on Sunday was the first time in weeks where Klopp’s side seemed to play with some measure of fluidity and counter-pressing cohesion.
If the Reds can get a win over Arsenal on Thursday and then follow up it up with a win over Crystal Palace, they should have their African stars back before their next Premier League game against Leicester City on the 10th of February.
It doesn’t matter if the wins are ugly, points on the board are all that matter while Salah, Mane and Keita are in Cameroon and once they’re back and injured players return, Klopp can put the pieces back together and work on performance.
