Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta learned from the best, Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, when it comes to obfuscating the injury news during press conferences. So one should always take what is said with a grain of salt, when it comes to the injury/fitness news is an Arteta presser. The Gunners could have up to six injury absentees for tomorrow’s London derby EFL Cup semifinal first leg, with a pair of surprises in William Saliba and Leandro Trossard.
Both missed out on the rout over Portsmouth in the FA Cup, this past weekend, but it had been thought they were simply rested, because the opponent was from a lower tier. Turns out they both have undisclosed fitness issues to overcome.
EFL Cup Semifinal Leg 1 of 2
Arsenal at Chelsea FC
Kickoff: Wedneday Jan 14, 8pm, Stamford Bridge, London, UK
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“The others that we have are Willie [Saliba] and Leo [Trossard],” Arteta said earlier today. “Those two are a doubt.”
Elsewhere there had been a narrative circulating that Piero Hincapie (hamstring), Riccardo Calafiori (unspecified muscular injury) and Cristhian Mosquera were all getting closer to approaching match fitness levels pretty soon. Arteta threw cold water on that idea; with all of them.
“He’s progressing, but we don’t know,” Arteta said of Calafiori. “I think it will be a matter of a few weeks, probably, but we don’t know exactly when,” Arteta said.
So if Arteta’s timelines turn out to be real, then Calafiori is out until well into February; ditto for Max Dowman and Cristhian Mosquera, both of whom have ankle injuries.
“[Max] is very similar to [Cristhian] Mosquera as well,” Arteta said earlier today.
“Very similar injuries, very similar timeframes and both evolving really well. But they’re not training yet so they’re still a few weeks away.”
So we’ll just have to wait and see if this all plays out as Arteta has outlined here.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, RG.org and Ratings.org. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the Washington Post.