Forgotten Arsenal star in line for special role against Liverpool after new injury concern

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta would have preferred not to be going into the match with Liverpool at Anfield this weekend with as many injury concerns as he currently does. The Gunners topped the injury charts last season with 27 separate problems suffered throughout the campaign.

As of the images we saw from team training on Wednesday, the Spaniard is currently missing as many as seven stars. Long-term injury issues mean Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus were, of course, not involved.

There was still no sign of Ben White, who has been absent since the trip to Manchester United; Christian Norgaard, who has not yet played a competitive match at all since his arrival, was also not spotted. Then there are the latest two notable injuries suffered against Leeds United by Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka.

Lastly, Leandro Trossard is something of an unknown after coming off the bench against Leeds but not spotted in any of the images, sparking question marks over his availability. The good news is that new signing Eberechi Eze was involved in the session, but that is no indication whether his debut will come as a start for the club this weekend in such a high-profile game.

Instead of Odegaard, if the club captain is not fit, it could be an unorthodox pick - and not necessarily Ethan Nwaneri, who replaced the Norwegian against Leeds. The youngster is incredibly talented but didn't have the best performance; in such an important affair, Arteta might instead lean on experience as he has done in the past.

After all the signings, Mikel Merino is something of a forgotten asset to the team. The Spanish international has played alongside Declan Rice and ahead of another No.6, previously either Thomas Partey or Jorginho, in the same XI.

Without Odegaard, Arteta used Merino as the advanced midfielder at Everton last season. We also saw it in the controversial draw with Brighton, when the Gunners were unlucky to concede a goal from a questionable penalty, which ironically was also the case on Merseyside.

But at Anfield last season, it was Merino who scored the equaliser after Arsenal had gone two goals down. Playing instead of Declan Rice, who was absent, Merino was first to a rebounding ball from Odegaard's long strike.

Arteta has options he so often didn't in the previous campaign, even with potentially as many as seven absent from the team. The depth secured this summer in the market has transformed the Gunners' prospects, and that should be evident come Sunday.

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