Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta admits his side cannot win the Premier League title this season – 6 months earlier than anticipated.
Defender Riccardo Calafiori twisted his right knee and had to be substituted during the second half of Tuesday’s Champions League game against Shakhtar Donetsk with the Italian joining an ever-growing injury list.
The Gunners face league leaders Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday already without the services of attacking duo Martin Odegaard and possibly Bukayo Saka, while defender Jurrien Timber is also injured.
It follows last weekend’s shock defeat to Bournemouth and a less than convincing display against Shakhtar which left the Spaniard under no illusions about his team’s title chances.
‘Dropping points against Bournemouth. Key players injured. 32 red cards in 8 games. Yeah, we’ve imploded way ahead of schedule this season’, Arteta told Paddy Power News.
‘On the plus side we’ve spared our fans the agony of another title race and obligatory capitulation. It’s the hope that kills you.
‘I mean they should be used to the disappointment by now. The last time Arsenal won the league I was playing Snake on the Nokia 3310.
‘I’ve told the lads in the dressing room to start looking at holidays. There are some great end-of-May deals at the minute’.
When asked whether the injuries and suspensions would impact their performance against Liverpool, the 42-year-old said:
‘Injuries, suspensions and the anti-Arsenal corruption at the heart of PGMOL’.
‘It’ll be 12 v 11 on Sunday. Or 16 v 11 if you include the VAR.
‘It’s an open secret Anthony Taylor has two pet guinea pigs called Gerrard and Torres’.
On Arsenal’s perceived lack of discipline and whether he expected his side to finish the game with 11 men on the field, Arteta replied:
‘Yes. But only if we start the match with 12 players’.
*Paddy Power News’s footy news is pure fantasy – don’t believe it for a second
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