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Arsenal injury update: Riccardo Calafiori, Declan Rice, Noni Madueke latest news and return dates
Fleetwood celebrate famous Carabao Cup win over Arsenal

Arsenal have a number of injury issues persisting as they prepare to face Liverpool this weekend.

The reigning champions head to Anfield for Sunday’s huge Premier League showdown looking to quickly bounce back from their midweek Carabao Cup humiliation against Fleetwood.

Mikel Arteta’s side were the victims of one of the biggest upsets in the competition’s history at a ground called Highbury, drawing 1-1 with their fourth-tier opponents before then being ousted in shock fashion on penalties and denied a quarter-final spot.

Max Dowman was sent off for retaliating following a heavy challenge by Harrison Neal, leading to a furious reaction from Arteta.

The 16-year-old sensation will now serve a three-match suspension after Arsenal’s appeal against his red card was dismissed by the Football Association (FA) on Thursday, meaning he will definitely not play any part against Liverpool as Arteta faces problems out wide.

Here is all the latest Arsenal injury news and return dates before the Gunners go to Merseyside for the game of the week in the top-flight.

Declan Rice

Declan Rice took part in Arsenal training on Monday but was not named in the squad to face Fleetwood as he missed just his second game of the season so far across all competitions.

It was subsequently confirmed that the midfielder’s absence was not necessarily due to him being rested to ease his workload, but rather because of a knock.

“Declan finished with a problem the other day [against Everton], that is why I had to substitute him,” Arteta revealed after the loss to Fleetwood.

Injury concern: Declan Rice missed Arsenal’s shock loss to Fleetwood in the Carabao Cup

PA

The fact that Rice trained before the Fleetwood game should be a good sign, but a further update will arrive in Arteta’s pre-Liverpool press conference on Friday afternoon.

Potential return date: Sunday November 1, vs Liverpool (A)

Noni Madueke

Unlike Rice, Noni Madueke was not spotted in training on Monday and Arteta has revealed the winger picked up an ankle issue against Everton which prevented him from making the trip to Fleetwood.

As Arsenal have key injuries in wide areas and now Dowman’s suspension has been added to the mix, supporters will be desperate for a positive update on Madueke before the Liverpool game.

Potential return date: Sunday November 1, vs Liverpool (A)

Riccardo Calafiori

Riccardo Calafiori was somewhat of a surprise absentee from the Arsenal XI against Everton last weekend, particularly given that he had started all of the previous seven Premier League games.

Though considering he played the full 90 minutes against Bayern Munich in the Champions League and the short turnaround, it made sense for Arteta to rest his first-choice left-back.

That said, the Italian was introduced off the bench in the second half on Saturday and spent the majority of the eight minutes of stoppage time standing up front - meaning Madueke dropped into defence - before going straight down the tunnel at full-time.

Surprise: Riccardo Calafiori was a second-half substitute for Arsenal against Everton

Getty

Speaking after the game, Arteta confirmed that Calafiori had picked up a minor problem.

“Yeah, I wasn’t that mad to change those two from their positions,” Arteta said. “It was because he had a slight issue, we don't know what it is, it seems to be something very small, but he was cautious about it.”

Calafiori would likely have been rested for the Fleetwood game anyway, but is now facing a race against the clock to prove his fitness for the trip to Anfield.

Potential return date: Sunday November 1, vs Liverpool (A)

Bukayo Saka

Arsenal were handed a major injury scare after Bukayo Saka was forced off early against Bayern Munich.

The England winger had wriggled away from Alphonso Davies and got Arsenal on the attack, drifting into space and playing a pass out wide.

However, immediately after playing that pass under no real pressure, Saka went down clutching his left leg and signalled to the bench that he was hurt.

There is now a nervous wait to learn the full severity of Saka's injury, which Arteta confirmed was a quad issue.

Layoff: Bukayo Saka is out indefinitely for Arsenal with a quad injury

Getty

Amid fears that Saka could be sidelined for up to eight weeks, it has since been revealed that he is set to undergo another scan before a definitive timeline can be confirmed.

"We have to wait. It will be weeks,” Arteta said before Arsenal’s win over Everton. "I think in a week or 10 days we're going to have another scan because there's so much fluid at the moment.

"So the picture is not that clear to give you an exact amount of time. But it looks like it's going to be weeks."

Potential return date: Sunday December 20, vs Manchester United (H)

Christos Tzolis

Christos Tzolis suffered a hamstring injury while playing for Greece in their 2-2 draw at home against the Netherlands in the Nations League at the start of October.

Having initially refused to come off after receiving treatment, according to Greece head coach Ivan Jovanovic, the winger was eventually replaced in the 18th minute of the match and was said to have undergone a scan before returning to Arsenal.

Amid reports that Tzolis would be out for up to three weeks, Arteta delivered an initial update in a press conference held before Arsenal’s win over Leeds.

“Tzolis has a muscle injury, and he's going to be out for a few weeks,” the Arsenal manager said. “He's not available yet.”

Big miss: Christos Tzolis has sat out the last five Arsenal games

AFP/Getty

The reported three-week timeframe has now passed, which means Tzolis could be in contention for the showdown with Liverpool at Anfield.

Before the win over Nottingham Forest, Arteta said: “Again, doing really well. Yesterday he had another MRI scan to see how the injury is evolving.

“It's progressing really well. Another one that hopefully we can have back in a few weeks."

Potential return date: Sunday November 1, vs Liverpool (A)

William Saliba

William Saliba has yet to play for Arsenal this season due to a long-term back injury that he exacerbated while on duty for France at the World Cup finals this summer.

Though he avoided surgery, he was expected to be sidelined for a period of months in a huge blow to Arteta.

In good news, Saliba recently resumed working individually back out on the grass at Arsenal’s training ground as he steps up his recovery.

“Next week, we have another MRI with him to see how the healing process is at the moment,” Arteta said in his latest update on Saliba.

“Every sign so far has been very, very positive. It will be great to have him."

Potential return date: December

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