Mikel Arteta has suggested that Arsenal are looking to change their warmup routines after injuries to several players during the process this season.
Italian defender Riccardo Calafiori joined the list of players to have limped out of the prematch warmup this season, after coming off in last Sunday’s 4-0 win over Wigan.
Meanwhile, William Saliba and Bukayo Saka have also been forced out of the lineup with injury scares this season.
While speaking to reporters ahead of Wednesday night’s crucial clash against Wolves at the Molineux, Arteta reflected on the solution to the injury worries.
“Yeah, yeah, Big time. They were very different. The first one was Willy when he rolled his ankle against Liverpool. Then we had two incidents with Riccy in the warmup in a really similar way”, the Spaniard stated.
“The other one was Bukayo after he rested in midweek, he didn’t play against Kairat, and then against Leeds he gets an injury. Very unusual. Probably happened once or twice in six years I have been here and it happened four times there.”
Arsenal have seen their gap at the top of the standings reduced to four points over the last week, but have a chance to open another massive gap on Wednesday.
Arteta’s men visit the Premier League bottom side in a rescheduled fixture, knowing that anything short of a win would dampen their title hopes.
“So obviously we are looking at it. On Willy’s one, very difficult to see. Sometimes as well you want to try and test a player before to see if they are ready and the warmup is another opportunity to do it”, Arteta added
“Bukayo’s is very random because he never gave any symptoms or signals away that this could happen in the warmup. It is what it is, we have to learn.”
Arsenal face consecutive away fixtures in the Premier League, with Wednesday’s trip to Wolves followed by the weekend’s North London derby at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
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