Speaking prior to Mikel Arteta’s pre-match press conference, Gary Neville insisted that although Arsenal will have some major players missing against Liverpool, they can’t use that as an excuse not to try and win the match.
“Every club has injuries, every club has players missing,” Neville said.
“I accept that they might not like the idea as [Bukayo] Saka and [Martin] Odegaard are obviously very big players and [William] Saliba is obviously out with the self-inflicted red card. But I’m not accepting any excuses ahead of Sunday.
“I cannot listen to excuses, I don’t want any excuses from Arsenal fans, I don’t want any excuses from Mikel Arteta.”
When Arteta then spoke to the media on Friday, he certainly didn’t seem to be making excuses, saying: “This is the game, you know, obviously, we didn’t want to be in that situation, but we are really lucky as well to have the squad that we have, to have the players that we have, to have the attitude that we have.
“When it comes down to reacting against a difficult situation and don’t feel sorry for ourselves, face it.”
Neville then appeared to give credit to Arteta for those comments during his appearance on Sky Sports on Friday night.
“[Arsenal’s absences have] been the sort of narrative this week, hasn’t it?” Neville began. “Arsenal, to be fair, aren’t contributing to that – Mikel Arteta or his coaching staff or the players.
“They can’t let that noise get into their heads, they have to really think about going out there on Sunday and winning.”
It’s not entirely clear which of Arsenal’s players will be missing against Liverpool on Sunday.
There are particularly big question marks around Jurrien Timber and Bukayo Saka, neither of whom seem to have been ruled out, but both of whom appear to be big doubts.
The expectation is that Martin Odegaard, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Riccardo Calafiori, and Kieran Tierney will all be out of action, and William Saliba will certainly be suspended. But whether the other two will make it is anyone’s guess.
If all seven players are out, then whatever Neville says, Arsenal are going to feel like this game came at an inopportune moment. Even so, Arteta’s side have to go out with the intent to win.
