“They Are In Contention To Start” — Arteta Hint On Arsenal Promising Stars That Could Feature Against Liverpool

October 25, 2024

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has revealed that two of the club’s most promising signings could start on Sunday, October 27, 2024, when the Gunners play Liverpool in a crucial Premier League fixture.

After a red card last weekend and another injury in midweek, Arteta and Arsenal are facing an injury crisis with their thin squad stretched to the limit. This could pave the way for two of the club’s most expensive youngsters to start in the decisive match.

Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri are names that will now be synonymous with every Arsenal fan as they get off to a flying start to the 2024/25 season after impressing for the club on their pre-season tour of the United States.

So far this season, Lewis-Skelly has made four first-team appearances, with a total of 82 minutes played. Nwaneri made four more appearances for the first team, scoring two impressive goals in 108 minutes. Both goals gave Arsenal a 5-1 win. Bolton Wanderers at the Emirates Stadium in the third round of the Carabao Cup.

There have been calls for Nwaneri to start in recent games, but Arteta has so far resisted such calls. However, a string of injuries could force the Spaniard to consider starting either Nwaneri or Lewis-Skelly or both.

Left-back Riccardo Calafiori suffered a worrying knee injury in Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk in the UEFA Champions League (UCL) round on Tuesday, with Arteta saying he is “not very confident” to play against Liverpool.

Kieran Tierney remains injured after suffering a serious injury while representing Scotland at Euro 2024 last summer, while Jurien Timbers has been ruled out since being substituted at half-time in the UCL win over PSG earlier this month.

That leaves Arteta with few options to operate at left-back against Liverpool, with Aleksandar Zinchenko, Jakub Kiwior, and Lewsi-Skelly likely to be in defense against Mohamed Salah, which will be no easy task. With both Zinchenko and Kiwior showing defensive weaknesses in recent months, many fans have called for Lewis-Skelly to start against Arne Sloat’s league leaders Liverpool, with Arteta refusing to rule out the possibility. He said: