Mikel Arteta has confirmed Oleksandr Zinchenko’s absence from the Arsenal squad for the match against Liverpool is due to an injury problem.
There was discussion ahead of Jurgen Klopp’s side visit to the Emirates over whether it would be Zinchenko or Kieran Tierney starting at left-back for the Gunners up against Mohamed Salah, but the team sheets revealed it was Takehiro Tomiyasu selected on that side against the Egyptian instead.
While Tierney was named among the substitutes, Zinchenko missed out on the squad entirely and Arteta explained ahead of kick-off that the 25-year-old has an issue.
“He’s got another muscle injury,” Arteta told Sky Sports. “Let’s see how it evolves in the next few days.”
While he has made an impressive start to life as an Arsenal player, heavily involved as Arteta’s side have made a flying start to the season, there have also been fitness concerns for Zinchenko to deal with.
A knee injury left him on the sidelines for two matches earlier in the campaign, while there was also a calf issue more recently that was picked up in training and kept him out of international duty for Ukraine.
