Arsenal have talked up their injury concerns heading into Sunday’s meeting with Liverpool, but Bukayo Saka and Jurrien Timber were both pictured at their team hotel on Saturday evening.
Mikel Arteta is no stranger to mind games, he worked under a manager who thrived on keeping everyone guessing in Pep Guardiola.
And in the buildup to Liverpool’s visit, he kept the cameras away from the likes of Saka and Timber as he publicly declared the duo, plus Riccardo Calafiori, were “very uncertain” to play.
“Saka’s done a bit of training on the grass. How far we can get him before Sunday is another question. We have another day, which is a good thing,” the Arsenal manager said.
On Saturday, though, images were published on X that showed Saka and Timber in their club tracksuits with the rest of the team at their hotel.
? Bukayo Saka & Jurrien Timber SPOTTED with the Arsenal squad at the team hotel tonight. ?
? @Lukascummins199 pic.twitter.com/ps8KxQ5dIV
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) October 26, 2024
If the image was taken on the eve of the clash, as advertised, it indicates that the duo were part of the squad that trained at the Emirates ahead of Liverpool’s visit.
The photo gallery from that particular session also did well to not offer a hint at Saka or Timber’s involvement – no surprises there!
There have been previous instances of players travelling with the squad and not making the final 20-man squad, but this has Arteta mind games written all over it.
According to the Mail, coaching staff at some Premier League sides have said they “no longer pay any attention to the Spaniard’s updates because they have cottoned onto his tricky methods.”
Arne Slot will be paying him little attention, you expect, and preparing for all eventualities, as any good manager would.
He, nor the rest of us, will not be surprised if Saka or Timber are in Arsenal‘s team later on Sunday.
Possible Arsenal XI: Raya; Timber, White, Gabriel, Kiwior; Partey, Rice; Saka, Trossard, Martinelli; Havertz
