Arsene Wenger has confirmed Arsenal midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will miss the weekend clash against Liverpool, while Danny Welbeck remains doubtful.
The English midfielder picked up a hamstring injury during the Gunners’ 2-1 victory over Manchester United in March. He was set to be out of action for four weeks. In addition to this, the former Red Devils striker picked up an injury while on international duty with the Three Lions.
The north London club face Brendan Rodgers’ side in the Premier League fixture at the Emirates on Saturday.
“Oxlade-Chamberlain is still out and not available and Danny Welbeck came back from England with a slight knee injury. It looks like he has a little chance to be available for Saturday still,” said Wenger in his pre-match press conference.
Meanwhile, Mikel Arteta, Jack Wilshere and Mathieu Debuchy have all returned to training and featured during their midweek 4-0 victory over Brentford. They are all available for the selection, but the Frenchman hinted the trio still lack fitness to start against the Anfield club.
“They were all involved on Tuesday and it went well. They’ve no problem after that coming out of the game. They are back available in training, a bit short still of top competitive level certainly but that’s normal,” the Gunners manager said.
“They’ve been out for a long time but I was quite surprised by how fit they looked and the quality of their performance – it was good. Jack or Diaby or Debuchy, will I involve any of them? I don’t know, I haven’t decided.
“You want everybody available and back in the final months to compete at the top level. The consistency will play a big part in the success of the team and having everybody available can help.”
Arsenal are third in the league table with 60 points, trailing second place Manchester City by one point and ahead of fourth place Manchester United, also by a point. A win against Liverpool will be very crucial for the Gunners on Saturday.
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