Arsenal are back in the Premier League this weekend as they take on Liverpool at Emirates and by the looks of it, Emile Smith Rowe is a major doubt for this encounter.
On Tuesday, reports in England had claimed that the Gunners youngster has picked up an injury while on national duty with the England U21 side and there was a big chance that he will not be ready to play vs Croatia on Wednesday night.
Football London had reported: “Arsenal have been dealt a potential injury blow ahead of their Premier League return against Liverpool on Saturday night after academy graduate Emile Smith Rowe picked up an issue while on international duty with England Under-21s.
“Arsenal will be keeping a close eye on team selection ahead of kick-off, too, in a bid to discover how likely it is that Smith Rowe will be available to face Premier League holders Liverpool.”
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Those fears have now come true with Emile Smith Rowe missing from the matchday squad at the Bonifika Stadium on Wednesday and now it remains to be seen how bad the injury really is.
Arsenal will take on Liverpool on Saturday night so the youngster has only two days to fully recover which, in practicality, looks absolutely impossible. Smith Rowe has been playing a lot of football for the first-team in the past couple of months so this injury is sure to halt his progress a bit.
But as far as the team’s concerned, Mikel Arteta will not be losing any sleep over this injury since he has an apt backup in the form of Martin Odegaard.
The Real Madrid loanee has done pretty well since coming on board and with Emile Smith Rowe out injured, the Norwegian should start in the attacking midfielder’s role on Saturday.
Overall, the injury to the 20-year-old is not a major cause of concern for the Arsenal boss but he does lose the ability to bring on a top-class substitute should he want to change things in the second half of the match.
