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Arsenal face a huge Premier League test on October 27 as they host table toppers Liverpool.
The Gunners welcome Arne Slot’s pace-setters to the Emirates Stadium for a crunch showdown on the back of a first league loss of the season at Bournemouth last weekend.
Arteta’s charges recovered to edge out a 1-0 midweek UEFA Champions League win over Shakhtar Donetsk as Liverpool were victorious on the road at RB Leipzig.
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However, the Spanish boss will be forced into changes against his rivals, with William Saliba serving a one-game suspension, and captain Martin Odegaard still out injured.
Riccardo Calafiori is also set miss out, after limping off against Shakhtar with a knee injury, but Arteta is hopeful Jurrien Timber is ready to come in and cover.
Positive noises over Bukayo Saka’s return, after missing out against Bournemouth and Shakhtar, are a further boost for Arteta, but Wright wants him to be bold against Liverpool.
Wright claimed the starting midfield trio of Thomas Partey, Declan Rice and Mikel Merino against Bournemouth was too conservative and hinted to Arteta to throw 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri in against the Merseysiders.
“When I saw Merino, Partey and Rice – I was thinking Nwaneri, the youngster”, Wright said on Sky Sports’ The Overlap podcast.
“Against Bournemouth, you need someone who can do something [in the middle] and create something, because that’s what was majorly missing. We needed someone to beat someone with the ball – I would have taken a chance on him – I would have had Merino, Rice and Nwaneri starting in there [the number 10], to have something different.”
Arteta did bring Nwaneri on for the final 10 minutes at Bournemouth, with Arsenal already 2-0 down, and he hinted caution at over exposing the teenager after the game.
Nwaneri has already broken ground at Arsenal, becoming the youngest-ever appearance maker in both Gunners and Premier League history aged 15 years and 181 days, in 2022.
However, despite rave reviews over his rise from Hale End academy prospect to the first team, he is yet to start an EPL game, and Arteta will assess the situation carefully ahead of facing Liverpool.