Arsenal’s injury woes have deepened after defenders Gabriel and Jurrien Timber were forced to leave the pitch in the second half of their match against Liverpool. Gabriel appeared to sustain a leg injury following a clash with Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez, and despite initial attempts to continue playing, he eventually signalled his inability to carry on.
This latest setback adds to manager Mikel Arteta’s growing list of injured players, which includes captain Martin Odegaard, Kieran Tierney, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Oleksandr Zinchenko.
To add insult to injury, William Saliba, Gabriel’s usual partner in central defence, was sent off during last week’s defeat to Bournemouth and missed the visit of Liverpool.
Timber then hobbled off shortly after, with Jakub Kiwior and Miles Lewis-Skelly replacing the pair in a makeshift back four that also consisted of Ben White and Thomas Partey.
Gabriel’s departure from the pitch appeared to shift the momentum of the game in favour of Liverpool, despite Arsenal leading 2-1 at the time thanks to first-half goals from Bukayo Saka and Mikel Merino.
Nine minutes into the clash, Saka expertly received a pass from White, deftly sidestepping Andy Robertson and rocketing the ball into the roof of the net. Virgil van Dijk, Liverpool captain, soon equalised with a thumping header following Luis Diaz’s flick-on from a corner.
Arsenal retook the lead just before the break as Merino rose to convert Declan Rice’s sublime free-kick before Salah equalised again with a simple finish after Nunez’s cut-back.
After Gabriel’s injury, Liverpool manager Arne Slot acted decisively, introducing Cody Gakpo, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Kostas Tsimikas for Alexis Mac Allister, Andy Robertson, and Luis Diaz respectively, prompting Pat Nevin to caution Arsenal of a challenging last 30 minutes.
The former Chelsea ace expressed concern over Gabriel’s potential forced exit from the pitch, as recounted on BBC Radio 5 Live: “If they could Arsenal would probably not want to risk Gabriel and would take him off. But the way things are just now with their defence and the issues there, he will not be coming off unless he absolutely has to.
“This will be a big, big job for the two players in front of the Arsenal defence now. If you are a Liverpool fan you would like to see a bit more from them, go and test that defence.
“Liverpool have added a little bit of chaos to things. They were really easy to mark and were predictable, but now there is variation. Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold are moving forward, Luis Diaz is picking it up in better positions in the final third. They are asking more questions of Arsenal.”
