Arsenal's injury woes continue to mount as Riccardo Calafiori was forced off during their victory over Shakhtar Donetsk in the second half, with Mikel Arteta describing the situation as 'not great news'. The win, secured by a first-half own goal from Shakhtar goalkeeper Dmytro Riznyk, was overshadowed when the left-back exited the field visibly in pain, possibly due to a knee injury. Bukayo Saka, Martin Ødegaard, and Jurrien Timber were already missing from the lineup and may remain sidelined for the crucial Premier League clash against Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

'He had to come off because he felt something,' Arteta said of Calafiori. 'I don't know the extent of it, so in that sense not great news.' Regarding Saka's potential return this weekend, who has missed the last two games with a hamstring injury, the manager added: 'He wasn't able to train yet so that's unlikely.'

Arteta could at least confirm that Ben White, who was substituted at half-time after a shaky first half in which he received a yellow card, had not joined the injury list. 'It was my decision to take him out,' he explained. 'He had a yellow card and we've played enough with 10 men in recent periods. [Shakhtar] had a lot of density on that side, a lot of players on that side, so I didn't want to take any chances there.'

Arsenal struggled for much of the night against the Ukrainian champions, missing several chances and seeing Leandro Trossard miss a late penalty. 'We should have put the game to bed with the amount of dominance and territory that we had,' Arteta noted. 'We looked tired.'

Despite the fatigue, Arteta is confident his available players will be ready for Liverpool, who lead the Premier League and are four points ahead of Arsenal. 'I was expecting a bit of a drop off,' he said, referring to the proximity of the game with Bournemouth last Saturday and the recent international break. 'And the fact that we put so much in the first half and didn't get the distance in terms of the scoreline, I think we paid a bit for that. But we have now four days. Believe me, come Sunday we'll be flying.'

Shakhtar manager Marino Pusic, whose team was denied a late equaliser by a superb David Raya save, expressed pride in his players' performance. 'I said to my players I am very proud of how they showed up tonight and what they did,' he said. 'You can imagine it is not easy to play against such a tremendous team. I think we deserved an equaliser for sure.'

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